DCA Will Receive Over $51 Million in Additional Federal Emergency Rental Assistance Because of its High Performance in Distributing Rental Aid

• Posted on: 11/02/2022

Marks the Latest Additional Award to DCA for a Total of Over $179 Million in Reallocations to Help More Renter Households in Need

TRENTON, NJ – The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) today announced that it will receive an additional $51.06 million in federal Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funds for New Jersey renter households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of DCA’s high performance in distributing the rental assistance, the additional funds will be reallocated to DCA by U.S. Treasury from other states and localities in the nation that didn’t use them.

With the $51.06 million in additional funds, DCA will be able to assist another 4,100 to 4,600 households that are currently on the waiting list for the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program (CVERAP).

These are the fourth and fifth ERA funding reallocations awarded to DCA in less than a year. The Department received $42.7 million in January, $44.64 million in March, and $41.57 million in September. DCA was just recently awarded $30.47 million on October 18th and $20.59 million on October 28th for a total of $179.97 million in additional ERA funds.  

“DCA is incredibly grateful that the federal government is rewarding our efficiency in distributing Emergency Rental Assistance by providing us with additional funds so that we can help even more renter households in need,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, who serves as DCA Commissioner. “DCA will continue to work hard to get rental assistance out as quickly as possible so that we can serve households on our waiting list.”

DCA received an original allocation of $625 million in ERA funds from the federal government. The Department completely disbursed the original allocation in March of this year. DCA has also fully disbursed the ERA funding reallocations received in January and March. With ERA funding, DCA has been able to help more than 68,000 households across New Jersey through the CVERAP program, which began in July 2020 and provides up to 12 months of rental assistance to households.

In addition to the Emergency Rental Assistance program (CVERAP), DCA administers the $500 million Eviction Prevention Program (EPP), established through P.L.2021, c.188, which was signed by Governor Murphy into law in August of 2021. Through the EPP program, DCA will provide rental assistance on a monthly basis for up to two years to approximately 28,500 households, many of which also received CVERAP assistance.

While applications for the CVERAP and EPP programs are closed, the State still has critical eviction prevention tools in place for renters who experienced economic hardships during the pandemic. Renter households with income below 120% of their county’s Area Median Income are permanently protected from eviction for nonpayment of rent from March 1, 2020, to August 31, 2021, by completing a self-certification form and also applying in some way for rental assistance through local and/or county government. Depending on the household’s income level and specific circumstances, they may also be eligible for protection from eviction for nonpayment of rent through December 31, 2021. To find out more about current eviction prevention tools available and how to self-certify for protections, people can visit https://covid19.nj.gov/renter. 

DCA offers a wide range of programs and services, including local government management and finance, affordable housing production, fire safety, building safety, community planning and development, disaster recovery and mitigation, and information privacy.

For more information about DCA, visit https://nj.gov/dca/ or follow the Department on social media: