Housing for low-income renters in New Mexico, a problem even in the best of times, has been exacerbated by COVID-19, and the state is using funding from the CARES Act toward the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
ERAP pays up to 12 months of back rent or utilities, as well as up to three months of future rent or utilities.
“In New Mexico, there were only 53 affordable and available homes for every 100 extremely low-income renters in the state,” Dan Threet, a research analyst for the National Low Income Housing Coalition, told KRQE.
The difficulty of finding affordable and available homes is forcing low-income households to spend anywhere from 30% to 50% of their income on rent monthly, causing them to have to cut spending in other areas and on other necessities, Threet said.
Henry Valdez, a spokesperson for ERAP, said, “We’re going to pay them whatever they owe, we’re going to catch them up. Hopefully, pay directly to the landlord or to the utility company.”
Valdez told KRQE that ERAP has awarded more than $50 million to more than 13,000 households.
To be eligible for rental assistance, the renter must live in New Mexico and fall within the 80% average median income. The household must also be impacted directly or indirectly by COVID-19, KRQE reports, but each household can receive multiple awards within each application. ERAP also assists families seeking temporary housing in hotels and shelters.