Applications for rental assistance spike in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On-time rent payments throughout the spring and most of the summer didn’t see seismic impacts in the Charlotte region, despite record unemployment because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Housing advocates have said the expiration of enhanced unemployment benefits, which occurred July 31, would create headwinds for renters who managed to keep up on their payments because of federal assistance, which had been $600 per week for those unemployed since late March.

Applications for rental assistance in Charlotte this month have, in fact, spiked — from a little more than 1,100 applications in the month of July to 1,628 as of midday Aug. 18, said Erin Barbee, senior vice president of programs and fund development at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Partnership.

It’s likely 2,000 applications will be submitted by the end of August, she said.

The Housing Partnership and Socialserve are administering a program on behalf of the city for mortgage, rent and utility payment assistance, including $8 million approved by council from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at the start of the pandemic and $1.5 million from Mecklenburg County, also from CARES Act funding.

Long-term guests at hotels who cannot pay the bill because of impacts from COVID-19 are also eligible for the program.

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