JACKSONVILLE, Fla — More help is on the way for families facing eviction or foreclosure due to COVID-19 financial struggles.
The official name is the Residential Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Program. The Jacksonville Bar Association is administering the program based on a similar successful program in Orlando.
Mary DeVries is with the Jacksonville Legal Aid, helping people fight evictions. She’s hearing from people who are thousands of dollars in debt because of COVID-19 impacts.
“I don’t think it is going to meet the need but I think that it is going to help a lot of families," she said. "Especially those families who need help getting back on track and hopefully perhaps will be able to take it from there.”
The application process to apply for up to $5000 from the CARES Act opens at 9 a.m. on Dec. 3. This is for Duval county residents only.
If you get approved, the money would go directly to your landlord or mortgage lender so there is no uncertainty about where the money is going.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry says the city put aside $5.3 million dollars from the CARES Act for this program. Roughly 75 percent of it will go to households facing evictions, the other 25 percent will go to businesses.
The commercial application opens on Dec. 7. Businesses could get up to $10,000 each.
“Lockdowns were government-imposed so no individual and no business did anything to disrupt their level of income," Curry said. "This was all government-imposed to keep people safe. Now it is up to us at the federal state and local level to help people get back on their feet.”
He says the county has about 8,000 active eviction filings right now.
For residential aid, you’ll need these documents: Identification for all household members, copy of your lease or mortgage, landlord or mortgagee W9 form, documentation of your ability to now pay rent or mortgage for two months and a notice of possible eviction or foreclosure.
You have to be at least two months behind rent from the beginning of April to the end of October.
Curry says it’s first come first serve though money won’t be granted until January.