Minnesota Housing, the state’s housing finance agency, has launched its COVID-19 Housing Assistance Program. The program provides housing assistance payments to help prevent evictions, prevent homelessness and maintain housing stability.
To qualify, households must meet all of the following criteria:
- Be a Minnesota resident.
- Be a renter or homeowner with an income at or below 300% of federal poverty guidelines, with a preference for those at or below 200% of federal poverty guidelines. To see if your income qualifies, please see the FY 2020 Federal Poverty Guidelines.
- Have an eligible expense that was incurred after March 1, 2020 that is past due. Housing assistance funds can only be used for eligible expenses incurred between March 1, 2020 and December 30, 2020.
- Be unable to make the payment(s) owed because of the public health emergency due to unemployment, illness, or another COVID-19 related issue.
If they are needed to maintain housing security, avoid displacement and are past due, eligible expenses may include:
- Rent payments
- Mortgage payments (including escrowed property taxes and insurance in the case of foreclosure prevention)
- Contract for deed payments
- Manufactured home park lot rents
- Manufactured home payments
- Utility payments
- Homeowners Association fees
- Homeowners insurance
- Additional housing related costs approved by Minnesota Housing
At this time, there is no minimum or maximum dollar amount that may be requested.
For more information on the application process and documentation that must be provided, please visit the Minnesota Housing website at http://www.mnhousing.gov/sites/np/covid19housingassistanceprogramFAQ.