Residential renters in Irvine experiencing hardship due to the pandemic will be able to apply for financial rental assistance, as a partnership between Irvine and the Orange County United Way will allocate more than $17 million toward unpaid rent.

Irvine’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program is designed to provide $17.7 million in funding, in the form of grants from the state and federal government, for unpaid rent for residential renters in Irvine between April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.

The application process for Irvine’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program will begin on March 8 at 8:00 a.m. The application deadline is Friday, March 19 at 5:00 p.m.

In order to qualify, applicants must be residential renters in Irvine, with annual incomes at or below 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). Renters also must provide proof of financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In terms of priority, renters with annual incomes at or below 50 percent of the AMI, based on household size, and length of unemployment, will be given priority.

Irvine Rental AssistanceOnce the application process has been completed, the city of Irvine and OC United Way will incorporate a lottery system to determine grant recipients. Once established, households with unpaid rent between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021 will be given top priority.

The city of Irvine is not the first to provide this type of assistance, as Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan said that both Santa Ana and Anaheim have provided assistance. Khan is hopeful Irvine’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program will provide relief to her community.

“I continue to hear from our community about the hardships they face with job loss and financial strains,” Khan said in a statement. “It is vital that we help keep our residents in their homes. The rental assistance program will help us achieve this goal by providing relief for those who have been adversely affected by the pandemic.”

Once eligible, renters could receive funds to pay 80 percent of back rent, if the landlord agrees to forgive the remaining 20 percent. The city of Irvine encourages residents to review the City’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program here.

On Feb. 1 Orange County announced the launch of the county’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which allocated more than $65 million from the U.S. Department of Treasury for rental relief in O.C..

However, as the cities of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Irvine all received direct assistance, as populations exceeded more than 200,000 residents.

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