NC looking for applicants to rental assistance program

Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Wednesday that the state would be opening up a second round of applications for rental assistance is now open.

Posted 2:29 p.m. Jun 2, 2021 — Updated 12:20 a.m. Jun 3, 2021

Maggie Brown

, WRAL Multiplatform producer

RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Wednesday that the state is looking for more people to apply to their rental assistance program.

The N.C. Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions (HOPE) program is in place to assist low-income renters affected by COVID-19.

The program has more than $550 million in federal funds that needs to be spent.

There has been high demand for rent assistance and the state has been slow to pay out funds through the program.

State officials running the program say they understand people’s frustrations. They built HOPE from scratch in the late summer and, when it went live in mid-October, they were inundated by more than 42,000 applications.

Some of the delay is by design. The award letter protects tenants from eviction while program officials collect the necessary paperwork, like leases and utility bills, and cut a check.

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During the program's first phase, officials said 36,000 people were able to be served. The program has had problems with payment delays and applicants report they struggled to reach caseworkers.

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"We knew that demand outstripped resources," Cooper said, signaling that Congress' federal relief helped fill the demand where the state couldn't.

Cooper said that more than 8,000 people have applied for help in the past two weeks. Since the second round of applications began, $9.5 million has been awarded.

There 's been confusion about the difference between grants “awarded” and “paid,” which at times made it sound like the program was further along. During a late January pandemic briefing, Gov. Roy Cooper told the state the HOPE program had “paid nearly $130 million to landlords and utilities.”

But that was the amount awarded. The paid figure was closer to $40 million at the time.

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"For many, life is returning to normal," Cooper said. "But the need for rental and utility assistance remains."

People who applied for the program previously are allowed to re-apply.

Payments go directly to landlords and utility companies.

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