HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 10521 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 20-10521
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 15, 2020
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*a SUBJECT: APPLICATION TO TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
rr' COMMUNITY AFFAIRS (TDHCA) FOR PARTICIPATION IN TEXAS
EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (TERAP)
RESPONDING TO CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
On November 23, 2020, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) notified entitlement
communities, including the City of Fort Worth, about an additional allocation of Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG-CV) CARES Act funds available to communities in Texas that have existing COVID-19 rental assistance programs
and that have indicated an interest in the Texas Emergency Rental Assistance Program (TERAP).
TERAP provides rental assistance to income-eligible households impacted by COVID-19 to help them stay housed during
the pandemic. The program can pay up to six months of an eligible household's rent, including rental arrears, with at
least one of those months covering a month of future rent. As a set-aside within the program, 10 percent of funds are
specifically earmarked for the Texas Eviction Diversion Program (TEDP), which provides rental assistance to tenants who
have been sued for eviction, providing the landlord and tenant an alternative to eviction.
Funds allocated to the City of Fort Worth, totaling $1,840,489.70, including a 10 percent allocation for administrative
expenses of$184,048.98, require submission of an application to TDHCA. The application period opened on December 1
and closes on December 28. Without objection, the Neighborhood Services Department intends to submit an
application for the full allocation amount and to partner with current subrecipient agencies to administer the program.
This includes direct allocation of funds to approximately five public service agencies that have recently applied for
and/or been awarded CARES Act funding through one or more of the following programs: CDBG-CV, ESG-CV, ESG-CV2,
CDBG-CV3, NGO.
The contract start date for these funds is January 15, 2021. An M&C to appear on the January 26 City Council agenda is
underway to ratify this application and to accept the award of funding, as well as to designate the partner agencies to be
considered for funding.
Please contact Victor Turner, Neighborhood Services Director at (817) 392-817 with any questions or comments
regarding the program.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS