Somerset County Program Helps Almost 900 Households Stay In Their Homes, Despite COVID Hardships

Manville NJ

04 June, 2022

12:31 PM

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Press release from the Somerset County Government: June 01, 2022 SOMERVILLE, NJ – Somerset County responded to the COVID pandemic rental crisis with an Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) that allocated approximately $9 million to prevent eviction of more than 2,000 residents in 877 households, while ensuring landlords received rent payments. The average support package was slightly less than $10,000 and provided up to 12 months of rental arrears, three months in forward rent, and support for utility bills. "No one should have to lose their home because of something that is completely outside of their control like the COVID pandemic," said Commissioner Director Shanel Y. Robinson. "Because of Somerset County's ERAP program, landlords were able to protect their property investments, and more than 2,000 of our friends and neighbors were able to stay in their homes." The bulk of the funding, approximately $7.7 million, came from a federal allocation from the Emergency Rental Assistance Program II. In early Spring it became clear that there were more applicants who met the program criteria than funds remaining, and the County stopped accepting new applications on April 12. To ensure all valid applications received prior to April 12 were supported, the Somerset County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved the use of up to $1.6 million of American Rescue Plan allocations to supplement the ERAP II funds. "The cascading effect of COVID life changes and the impact on my finances was devastating, and I was so grateful that Somerset County was there to take my application and work with me in Spanish," said Kelly Tripaldi, who rents her home in Montgomery. "Because of Somerset County's ERAP program I was able to stay in my home, and my days got brighter, my hope restored. This is a happy ending at a time when there is so much suffering, so often in silence." In September 2021, soon after Somerset County received its first ERAP funds, the state of New Jersey began allowing landlords to bring tenants to mandatory settlement conferences in Landlord/Tenant court. Somerset County Counsel Joseph Demarco began attending these conferences on the first day to reach those most at risk of eviction. On the first day of hearings Mr. Demarco was able to connect a tenant with the county staff, and allocations began. "The rent ERAP provided kept my tenant securely in their home, and also enabled my mother and I to keep up with payments and expenses on the property," said Abel Khan, a landlord with a property in Franklin who participated in Somerset County's ERAP program. "Without the rental support and the utility payment my tenant would have had nowhere to go, and we would still have the expenses of the house without more than a year of revenue." As the state lifted the moratorium on evictions in January this year, the Commissioners decided to expand public awareness of the program and reach directly into the most impacted communities. Partnering with the Somerset County Library System, the County hired six ERAP Educators, including three who are bilingual, to be hosted in libraries throughout the county to provide information and help eligible residents complete applications. "I personally want to thank Somerset County for assisting my tenant and her fiancé to stay in their home and get back on solid ground after losing so much to COVID," said Steve DeMattheis, whose company DeMattheis Real Estate owns apartment complexes in Bound Brook and worked with ERAP Educators to assist a number of his tenants. "Both my tenants and my company are fortunate and grateful for Somerset County's support as we all recover from this crippling situation." Despite the scale and scope of the ERAP effort, Somerset County was able to keep administrative costs down to just 1.7 percent of the total allocations, ensuring that more than 98 percent of the funding went directly to Somerset County residents in need. The overhead included staff time and resources, as well as funding the six ERAP Educators. In all, 18 Somerset County municipalities had residents receiving ERAP funding. Franklin Township received the most support at almost $2.9 million, with Bound Brook, Somerville and North Plainfield receiving between $750,000 and $860,000 each. The remaining 14 towns were awarded less than a half million dollars each. (see Chart 1 below, attached) Based on race and ethnicity self-identification during the application process, African Americans received about half the funding, with White/non-Hispanic residents receiving 24 percent and Hispanic/Latino applicants receiving 22 percent of all awards. Thirteen percent of applicants declined to provide optional race and ethnicity information. (see Chart 2 below, attached) To stay up to date with Somerset County events and information, sign up for free email alerts at www.co.somerset.nj.us/subscribe or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Chart 1: ERAP II Funding by Somerset County Municipality Chart 2: Self-Identified Race/Ethnicity of Somerset County ERAP II Recipients This press release was produced by the Somerset County Government. The views expressed here are the author's own.