Gov. Ducey announces $5M in rental assistance for Arizonans
PHOENIX - Governor Doug Ducey announced Friday that 5 million dollars in funding will now be available to help Arizonans struggling to pay rent after the state's unemployment rate surged in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a news release from his office.
The money is part of the Arizona Department of Housing's new Rental Eviction Prevention Assistance Program, which is meant to help people who have lost income from coronavirus closures with monthly rent assistance.
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The program will be launched on Monday, March 30. The money will be made available to households whose primary residence is a rental unit in Arizona and for those who have reduced income from the viral outbreak, with some exceptions.
Read more about the funding here.
Last Tuesday, Ducey issued an executive order delaying evictions for renters impacted by the virus.
Landlords react
Meanwhile, there's potential fallout with Gov. Ducey's decision as landlords are starting to speak out.
"Being able to make my mortgage payments, being able to make the tax payments, insurance payments, HOA payments ,home warranty, any repairs that come up, all those things I don’t think I’ve heard any protections for any of that," said Michael Mesarosh.
Mesarosh owns multiple properties, and has five tenants. As economic turmoil continues during the outbreak, Mesarosh says a tenant has already warned him of an incomplete rent payment. He is, however, willing to be patient.
"I won’t be charging them late fees, and I won’t be trying to evict them, and I’ll be as understanding as I would expect someone to be if I was in that situation," said Mesarosh.
Mesarosh hopes landlords who rely on rental income will be OK.
“For income, for their own living expenses, there needs to be something done to address that," said Mesarosh. "I’m just more concerned with an order that only addresses one side of the equation for this residential rental."