Governor outlines emergency rental assistance program

Gov. Steve Bullock issued a directive on Monday providing emergency rental assistance to families struggling with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The directive requires the Montana Department of Commerce to administer a program to provide rent assistance to low-income Montanans “who have suffered financial hardship” because of COVID-19.

According to the directive, the program will tap into the Montana Board of Housing’s funds for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. These funds will go toward assisting with rent or security deposits to help eligible households stay in their current homes or obtain new housing. Meanwhile, the state will seek additional state and federal funding sources for households who do not meet the criteria for the TANF program.

To be eligible for emergency rental assistance, the household must lack sufficient income to pay rent or a security deposit “because of the COVID-19 emergency or the response to that emergency,” according to the directive.

“For families that can’t make their housing payment right now because they’ve lost income due to COVID-19, this directive will help prevent a months-long rent backlog from coming due all at once,” Bullock said.

The directive also breaks down the governor’s limitation on evictions, which was originally outlined in a March 31 directive. It states the “temporary limitation on residential evictions” applies when a tenant is forced into self-quarantine, is over 65 or has any health condition placing them at enhanced risk for COVID-19, or has suffered a “substantial loss of income” because of COVID-19.

The new directive is in place until at least April 24.

The directive comes after the Montana Landlord Association sent a letter to Bullock on April 8 expressing concerns about landlords’ constitutional rights and wanting to ensure landlords would be able to meet their own financial obligations. The group suggested the governor create a fund to assist renters in meeting their financial obligations to landlords.

“If the Directive continues and no economic assistance is available for landlords, it could be economically disastrous for many Montana landlords who are not receiving rent,” the letter states.

Bullock said during a press call on Tuesday afternoon he could not identify any date when the state might relax restrictions and reopen some of the economy. The governor’s office is closely monitoring the situation on the ground and extending directives in two-week increments.

“I know it’s frustrating we can’t give a date certain when things will return to some degree of normal,” Bullock said, adding the measures the state has taken so far “are doing exactly what we hoped for.”

He compared the rate of infections in Montana to neighboring South Dakota, which has three times the per-capita rate of COVID-19 cases.

Montana had 399 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and seven deaths related to the virus as of Tuesday afternoon. The number of confirmed cases has declined every day April 8, and on Tuesday there were just five new cases recorded.

Reporter Colin Gaiser may be reached at cgaiser@dailyinterlake.com.