$12.9M rental, utility assistance program opens for Westmoreland applicants

Apr. 12—An emergency aid program opened Monday for Westmoreland County residents who are behind on their rent or unable to pay utility bills.

Before noon, 40 applications had been received, said Dan Carney, executive director of Union Mission of Latrobe Inc., which is in charge of distributing $12.9 million the county received under the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The funding will be a huge help for households and landlords, he said.

"When housing is stable, it allows people to focus on other things," he said.

To be eligible, households must have an income at or below 80% of the area median income and some type of financial hardship resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. The household must be either delinquent on rent and/or utility bills or have the inability to afford next month's rent. Applicants who are approved can get up to 12 months of assistance "backwards or forwards," Carney said.

If all eligible applicants have been compensated and money is still available, an additional three months of assistance could be given out, he said.

"We want to make sure everybody's served first," he said.

Applications from renters and landlords are being accepted online at unionmission.org/erap. Anyone who cannot complete the application online can call Union Mission at 724-539-3550 for a mailed copy. Applicants will need a series of documents to apply for aid, such as a rental agreement, eviction notice, if applicable, and proof of income or financial hardship from the pandemic.

Union Mission was selected last month by county commissioners to handle the program. Since then, Carney said about 800 people signed up to be notified of when the process would start.

"We're anticipating some heavy needs coming into this," he said.

Landlords are able to apply on behalf of tenants through the website. Applications can be approved in as quickly as 48 hours, as long as all the documentation needed is submitted, but others might take more time. Carney said the payments will go directly to landlords or the utility company.

"We're hopeful that it'll help our landlords," he said. "We're hoping this will have an impact on them and certainly remediate a lot of rental debt on the community."

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@triblive.com or via Twitter .