Additional $31.45 Million Available to New Jerseyans for Emergency Rental Assistance

New Jersey DCA Secures Additional $31.45 Million for Emergency Rental Assistance

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has announced that it will receive an additional $31.45 million in federal Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funds to support renter households facing financial hardships. 

This latest allocation brings the total amount of ERA funds awarded to the DCA to over $245 million. 

The funds will help approximately 2,500 to 3,000 households currently on the waiting list for the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program (CVERAP).

This is the seventh ERA funding reallocation awarded to DCA since January 2022, with the Department receiving multiple allocations throughout the year. The federal government also facilitated a voluntary reallocation of $5.9 million in ERA funding from Burlington County to DCA last year for emergency rental assistance for Burlington County residents.

The DCA has already disbursed its original allocation of $626 million in ERA funds, along with the reallocations received in 2022. Through the CVERAP2 program, DCA has provided rental assistance to over 75,750 households across New Jersey since January 2021, with more than 15,000 households benefitting from the first phase of the CVERAP program launched in July 2020.

Additionally, DCA administers the $500 million Eviction Prevention Program (EPP), which provides rental assistance for up to two years to approximately 31,800 households. Many of these households have also received CVERAP assistance.

While applications for CVERAP and EPP programs are closed, eviction prevention tools remain in place for renters who faced economic hardships during the pandemic. 

The Eviction Diversion Initiative, established in December 2021, has dispatched resource navigators to work with tenants and landlords to prevent evictions.

DCA also maintains waiting lists for state and federally-funded rental assistance programs, such as the State Rental Assistance Program and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. These programs provide housing vouchers and subsidies to very low-income New Jersey residents.

To learn more about the DCA and its wide range of programs and services, visit https://nj.gov/dca/.