Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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Emergency Rental Assistance Program
Since the start of the pandemic, the Town has funded two rounds of the Arlington Emergency Tenant Assistance
Program, which provides rental assistance for households earning up to 50% AMI who are at risk of losing their
housing due to the economic instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Selected program funding recipients
received assistance in the form of up to $2,000 per month for no more than six months, paid directly to their
landlord. The assistance program is funded through an additional allocation of Community Development Block
Grant funds known as CDBG-CV made possible by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)
Act. This Program is funded with $400,000 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG-CV) funds and
$300,000 in Community Preservation Act funds.
To qualify for the program, households must submit a pre-application, and those who are deemed eligible are
entered into a lottery. Those selected in the lottery must complete a full application for assistance and provide
documentation proving their eligibility under the program rules. If they are eligible, the Town will pay their
landlord up to $2,000 per month for up to three months.
The pre-application to the program is administered in English through an online form; Frequently Asked Questions
and guidance documents were provided in simplified Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and French. An additional
caveat in the FAQ document indicated that those who cannot fill out the online form because of disability, lack of
internet access, a language barrier, or some other reason can call or email the Town for assistance. The pre-
application asks about race and ethnicity for data collection and reporting purposes, and the application does
not ask about