NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Louisiana is launching a new $161 million program to aid renters and landlords affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor’s office said Friday.
Money for the new program comes the state’s share of $25 billion for rental assistance included in a coronavirus relief package passed by Congress late last year.
The governor’s office says the money has been allocated for relief to 57 Louisiana parishes. Seven parishes - Caddo, Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafayette, Orleans and St. Tammany - are getting relief directly from the U.S. Treasury.
The director of the state’s Louisiana Housing Corporation said Friday that lessons learned in running a $24 million rental assistance program will help the LHC do a better, more efficient job of getting the money from the new program to tenants and landlords.
That program was announced in July but stopped accepting applications within a few days due to high demand. As of Friday, LHC Executive Director Keith Cunningham said, the 956 applications had been funded with $2.3 million.
In a Friday interview, Cunningham said some 7,000 people whose applications were approved pending additional documentation in the first program will be given priority in the newly launched program. Money from the earlier $24 million program will be dedicated to serving homeless people, including those living in shelters because of last year’s hurricanes.
“We’re going to be able to take those dollars and rapidly rehouse those individuals,” Cunningham said.
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