Amendment #1127 to H3800

Rental Assistance

Representatives Decker of Cambridge, Connolly of Cambridge, Barber of Somerville, Crocker of Barnstable, Pignatelli of Lee, Vega of Holyoke, Khan of Newton, Gouveia of Acton, Miranda of Boston, González of Springfield, Hecht of Watertown, Cahill of Lynn, Lewis of Framingham and Capano of Lynn move to amend the bill in section 2, in item 7004-9316, after line 36, the following:  “; provided further, the department shall expend up to $7,000,000 under this line item to provide rental and mortgage arrearage assistance to otherwise eligible households that are at risk of eviction or foreclosure within the next 12 months; provided further, for the purposes of this pilot program, to receive cash benefits or other services, it is not necessary for a household to be subject to summary process under chapter 239, and risk of eviction or foreclosure may be determined by certified statements from the landlord or mortgage holder, and the applicant household verifying outstanding rent or mortgage and the household’s current inability to pay said fees; provided further, services and cash benefits under the arrearage pilot program shall be made available to households for the prevention of the loss of subsidized or unsubsidized housing; provided further, cash benefits shall not exceed the actual liability or four times the monthly rental or mortgage liability, whichever is less; provided further, such benefits shall be paid directly to the landlord or mortgage holder; provided further, in administering the pilot program, the department shall coordinate with the department of transitional assistance, member agencies and offices of the Massachusetts interagency council on housing and homelessness and the agencies contracted to administer the residential assistance for families in transition program on behalf of eligible households served by those agencies and offices so as streamline the application process, provide additional support services, and better promote upstream homelessness prevention and housing stability; provided further, the department shall issue quarterly reports on the rental and mortgage arrearage assistance pilot program to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means, the Joint Committee on Housing, and the House and Senate Clerks; provided further, the report shall include but not be limited to the following information:

(i) the referral source for each household and number of households referred by said source;

(ii) the number of applications requested, the number of applications completed, the number of applications approved;

(iii) the number of applications rejected and the reasons for denial;

(iv) the household income and demographic information for each qualifying household and its members, by zip code and cumulatively;

(v) the monthly rent or mortgage liability for each qualifying household and the amount of each arrearage payment; and

(vi) the housing status of each qualifying household at six, twelve, and twenty-four months after receipt of services or cash benefits.”;

and in said item by striking out the figures "$15,274,232” and inserting in place thereof the figures “$27,000,000”.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #1127 to H3800

Rental Assistance