Trust Looking To Start Rental Assistance Program

HARWICH – The affordable housing trust is seeking to establish a rental assistance program to make the monthly rental cost a little more manageable for candidates who qualify. The program would subsidize high rental rates by up to a maximum of $500 a month for at least 15 tenants in the community.

The rental assistance program requires that the income of tenants qualify by being 100 percent or less of the median area income in Barnstable County. Landlords would have to provide year-round leases with a rental rate that, when lowered by the subsidy, is affordable to the household. The subsidies would be paid directly to the landlords.

“The goal of the program is to provide economic assistance for affordable rental housing with social support services to bridge households and assist them in accessing and maintaining market, and affordable, long-term housing options,” according to a proposal issued by the trust seeking management services for the program.

Affordable Housing Trust Chair Larry Ballantine said the proposal is modeled after one that is used in Brewster. Funding for the subsidies will come from funds accrued by the trust, he said.

The trust went before the community preservation committee earlier this year seeking $250,000 in Community Preservation Act funds for the program. The committee took the position that the program was not fleshed out enough at that time to receive funding, Ballantine said. There were a few questions they could not answer at that time, like how many people would be applying for the funds. Ballantine said there had been an earlier rental assistance program set up in town but it was not well publicized and did not get a lot of applicants.

The trust received $500,000 in CPA funds for various programs in town meeting in May, and those funds and other accrued funds are available for the program, according to Ballantine.

The trust is seeking an independent organization to run the program and publicize the availability of the subsidies. Ballantine said the trust has talked with a couple of interested organizations, and the management cost seemed to be tied to the amount of case management services that will be required. Proposals are due by Aug. 19.

The proposal calls for ongoing case management services for all participants, which is expected to include assessing available services and funding sources as well as goal settings and, if needed, mentoring and financial management counseling. Services would also include budgetary planning with a goal of each household achieving self-sufficiency within a three-year period.

The management group selected to oversee the rental assistance program will be charged with examining income qualifications and tenant selection; landlord verification; reviewing the landlord/tenant leases; determining the appropriate subsidy, up to $500 a month; and making payments to the landlord.

The initiative is separate from the housing management provisions in the request for proposals to develop six acres of the former Marceline property located at 456 Queen Anne Rd., said Ballantine. The trust was scheduled on Tuesday to make a decision on a developer for the site. A provision in that RFP calls for the developer to provide a tenant management component.

As for the rental assistance program, Ballantine said the trust is hoping to have a manager for the rental assistance program by its meeting after the RFP deadline so it can examine the response to the program this fall and go back to the community preservation committee with the necessary answers to receive CPA funding for the program at the next annual town meeting.