Rent Relief Success

Technology delivers aid

By Yardi Blog Staff on Jun 25, 2021 in Matrix

Emergency rental assistance funds are helping Connecticut residents maintain housing thanks to a successful launch of the UniteCT program. UniteCT is administered by the State of Connecticut Department of Housing and runs on technology from Yardi called Rent Relief.

UniteCT is funded by $420 million in grants for rent and electricity payments for households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifteen state, county and city government agencies use Rent Relief to administer more than $1 billion in emergency rental assistance funds. Over 158,000 users are registered on Rent Relief and have completed more than 57,000 applications.

With Yardi Rent Relief, UniteCT accepts applications for assistance from residents and landlords using an online portal that is accessible from computers and mobile devices. The flexibility of Rent Relief paired with the efforts of the UniteCT team delivers assistance in areas that would have been otherwise been underserved.

”The UniteCT bus is an exciting new solution to combat the digital divide in communities who need additional support with technology. We are reimagining the rent relief application process by going to the individual and setting the precedent for other programs to come,” said Marina Marmolejo, program manager. (Bus pictured at right.)

The success of Rent Relief’s implementation of UniteCT can be measured by how fast Yardi launched the online application portals and how quickly case review team members became trained to begin vetting fully submitted applications.

Other signs of success include how many applicants have used Rent Relief thus far without major interruptions in service. Users created more than 10,000 accounts within the first few days of the applicant portal going live.

“We continue to do a lot of multi-media outreach including radio, newspaper articles and social media.  We have created sixteen UniteCT Resource Centers throughout the state to assist applicants with their application and other housing stability services offered by nonprofit partners.  The feedback we are getting is that the Rent Relief platform is stable and relatively simple to use,” said Dawn Parker, director UniteCT.

A participant of UniteCT recently expressed gratitude for program assistance. “Like many others, I had moments of deep concern this past year. Just in time, UniteCT staff stepped in like superheroes to help. Thank you for all that you’ve done to help those facing financial hardship during the pandemic,” said the participant.

“Programs like UniteCT are among the most important tools available to assisting renters and landlords to maintain solvency and prevent costly social problems down the road. Yardi is pleased to be part of economic recovery efforts with Rent Relief, the latest example of Yardi’s nearly four decades of developing full-service technology,” said Chris Voss, vice president of affordable housing at Yardi.

Learn more by visiting RentRelief.com. State and local housing agencies seeking to expedite and streamline emergency rental assistance programs can contact Yardi at (800) 866-1144 to set up a demonstration.

This week, Yardi followed up the success of Rent Relief by launching Mortgage Relief for homeowners impacted by the pandemic.

Mortgage Relief is a software platform for state agencies to manage American Rescue Plan (ARP) homeowner assistance programs.

The ARP passed in March 2021 allocated $9.3 billion to homeowner assistance for those negatively impacted by COVID-19. Funds are provided directly to states, territories, and Native American tribes to administer. Eligible households may receive funds for mortgage payments, utility payments and some home maintenance expenses.

Yardi developers used decades of software experience and insight from government partners to make Mortgage Relief an easy-to-implement, scalable and flexible solution for agencies. Applications for homeowner assistance may be submitted by either a homeowner or a lender on behalf of a homeowner. In most cases, funds will be paid directly to mortgage holders and utility providers.

“We’re excited that this all-in-one solution is implementable now for government agencies as they work to effectively distribute ARP funds,” said Jeff Bischoff, senior director of sales at Yardi. “Mortgage Relief provides a seamless way to collect applications, manage cases, make payments securely and monitor program performance.”

Learn more about the Mortgage Relief platform at homemortgagerelief.com or watch a video.