On May 5, 2020, the Olmsted County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) Board approved $1 million in emergency funding for a temporary rental assistance program to assist struggling renters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the National Multifamily Housing Council, nationally, almost one-third of renters were unable to make their April 2020 rent payments on time. Olmsted County HRA Director Dave Dunn states that “with May rents coming due this week, we are very concerned about the increased number of residents who will not be able to make this payment.”

To address this crisis, the creation of an emergency temporary rental assistance program will be implemented to minimize the number of people who might otherwise lose their housing due to the economic distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Principles of this program include:

• Assisting people who lost significant income due to COVID-19.
• Providing temporary rental assistance for three months (applicants can reapply if necessary).
• Providing timely assistance to families in immediate need.