Miami-Dade County Public Housing and Community Development (PHCD) is cautioning residents against fraudulent activities when applying for Emergency Rental Assistance. PHCD has received complaints that people are being charged $500 in fees – by individuals not employed by the County – to complete and expedite ERAP applications.
“The Miami-Dade County ERAP program is completely free to apply, and the County never asks participants to pay for an application,” said Michael Liu, Director, Miami-Dade PHCD. “Unfortunately, some in our community are preying upon residents in need of emergency rental assistance by promising expedited approval in exchange for a fee. This is completely false and no one has the ability to facilitate or expedite approvals of ERAP applications.”
Miami-Dade County recently expanded its successful Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) to include residents earning up to 140 percent of the area median income (AMI). A single person earning less than $95,620, couples making less than $109,200, families of three earning less than $122,920, and families of four earning less than $136,500 can now qualify for rental assistance.
“We are building upon an already successful ERAP plan that has distributed more than $138 million and helped over 21,000 families stay in their homes since the start of the pandemic,” said Michael Liu, Director, Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development. “By increasing the number of people that qualify for ERAP, more working professionals such as teachers, first responders, nurses and other essential workers can get assistance to cover rent costs in this difficult real estate market.”
ERAP can help renters with issues such as past due rent, utility payments, some relocation assistance, and increases in rent of up to 30% for a period of 3 months.
Anyone interested in applying for ERAP assistance can visit our website at https://miamidade.gov/housing or call our ERAP hotline at 305-723-1815 or 311. We also ask that you contact Miami-Dade County immediately if anyone approaches you asking for a fee to complete your ERAP application.
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