County residents can apply now for emergency rent relief

San Bernardino County has established the San Bernardino County Rent Relief Partnership which residents can begin applying for starting Monday, Apr. 12. This emergency rental assistance program will leverage more than $46.8 million in federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 funds to provide rental and utility assistance to county residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The County has teamed up with Inland SoCal 211+ (ISC211) to administer the San Bernardino County RRP, which will provide up to 12 months of rental arrears and/or prospective rent payments, as well as utility arrears and prospective assistance.

“This program will bring much-needed relief to tenants trying desperately to stay in their homes and, in turn, landlords who have been hard-hit by the economic effects of the pandemic,” said County Board of Supervisors Chairman Curt Hagman. “The county’s partnership with Inland SoCal 211+ is a key step toward economic recovery for our region.”

The county’s program will target its efforts to the most vulnerable individuals/households that have experienced the greatest impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Households must meet the following criteria to receive assistance:

Household Eligibility

• Household must reside within San Bernardino County. Residents of the cities of Fontana and San Bernardino must submit applications directly to their respective cities for assistance. Applicants from these cities who apply for the County’s program will be redirected to their applicable programs.
• Household must be obligated to pay rent on a residential dwelling and have a household income at or below 50% of area median income (AMI). See Table 1:

• One or more individuals within the household have qualified for unemployment benefits or experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardships due, directly or indirectly, to the COVID-19 outbreak; or
• One or more individuals within the household can demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability.
• One or more individuals within the 50% AMI household is unemployed as of the date of the application for assistance and has not been employed for the 90-day period preceding such date.

Assistance is Available!

ISC211 began accepting applications on Monday, April 12, 2021. Current plans call for the program to be available through December 31, 2021, or until all funds are exhausted, whichever occurs first.

For more information, please log on to the County’s website at http://sbcountycdha.com/community-development-and-housing-department or  ISC211’s website at https://iscuw.org/sbcrent

TO APPLY: Visit https://sbcrentrelief.org which goes live on Monday or dial 211 and select extension 5.

The county encourages landlords to proactively work with their tenants to complete applications as quickly as possible. Tenants are encouraged to work closely with landlords and to communicate their interest in participating in the program.

NOTICE: Households with a household income above 50% AMI, but below 80% AMI are being served by the State of California’s CA COVID-19 Rent Relief program. Please visit https://housing.ca.gov/. The State’s program is distinctively different from the County’s program in that it imposes payment restrictions, allowing 80% of total arrears to be paid, as opposed to the 100% paid by the County’s program. See Table 2: