Detroit Renters Encouraged To Apply For COVID Relief Fund
(CBS DETROIT) -- If you're facing eviction in Detroit, there are only two weeks left to submit new applications.
Renters have until 9 p.m. on June 30 to apply for COVID Emergency Rental Assistance funds.
Mayor Mike Duggan talked about other options to keep families in their homes.
"We're going to offer legal assistance at landlord-tenant court, 36th District Court. If you come home and find that you've been locked out, you are homeless, we are going to provide immediate help as we do today so that you will be housed that night," Duggan said.
According to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, 267,000 renters applied for CERA across the state, with 19,000 processed from Detroit.
"We knew it was a short-term program and it did what it was intended to do. It gave folks interim rent and utility assistance while they were in lockdown and today people are by in large back to work," Duggan said.
With rent and property values increasing, the city is also offering rapid job placement to help residents make ends meet.
"So if you feel like you're falling behind financially Detroit at work will put you in a situation where you can raise your income, stay where you are and be able to get that kind of assistance," Duggan said.
Another tool, the Detroit Eviction Defense Fund, gives free legal representation to tenants.
That program is set to start on Oct. 1.
