Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program Explained

Given everything going on in the world, it is important to realized what programs are out there which can help people going through hardship.  For this reason, we wanted to give some details on the Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program.  This grant is an important one and we wanted to highlight it because when I’ve had to go through it for my clients, it has not been the most intuitive. And we wanted people to be able to get all the information they need.

First things first, what is this program? What are we going to be talking about and who it’s going to help? For this program we’re very specifically talking about it from the Owner’s perspective. That is simply for landlords when it comes to past due rent that a Tenant never paid.  The good news is that the process is extremely similar from the Tenant’s perspective when they are applying as well.

Who can this program help?

1. Landlords
2. Tenants
3. Investors that are thinking about getting a new rental but is concerned about the current climate.
4. Anyone who’s in the industry, like agents, because you’re going to be rubbing shoulders with people that may need help. With this you’ll be able to help guide those people in your network.

What are you able to apply for?

You’re able to apply for is any past rents that was not paid since April of 2020. You’re also able to add any late fees that have accumulated, up to 10% late fees, for all of that past due rent. So this can add up to be a pretty substantial number.

As of the time of this video, they’ve given out 157 million in grants through this program. So it’s definitely something that you can do, and I’m helping some people with it right now.

What allows you to be eligible?

There are four things that you are going to need to be eligible:

1. A valid lease.  They do say other documentation though. So there seems to be options if a lease expired and didn’t roll over to a month to month. Other documentation may allow you to still qualify for this.
2. The rent needs to be under 150% of the fair market value or fair market rent value prices.
3. The tenant has gross income of less than 80%. Of what the median income is for the area.
4. The tenant must be able to show that they had some sort of hardship. Hardship is defined pretty widely. So you can show this in a lot of different ways.  It’s not just getting laid off, it could be reduced hours as well as a whole bunch of different things in between.

How can you actually apply?

You have to get access to VHDAgrants.com. In order to get access, you have to show that you have all the materials/documents, and then send it via email for them to create the account.  This is a bit of a weird nuance which is why I feel like this video is helpful.  So, what are the docs that you need?

• You need the lease to show that it’s a valid lease.
• You need the tenants proof of income. There are a few different ways that you can get this proof of income… pay stubs and bank statements are typically the simplest options.
• You need to have a rental ledger, which is important because that’s how you’re going to figure out how much is actually owed.
• You’re also going to need their application documents, which we’ll talk a little bit about here shortly.
• You’ll need a signed ACH  document that allows them to direct deposit into your account. A voided check would likely be enough to give them your account and routing information.
• Finally, they need the Commonwealth of Virginia W9 form. And they will not accept the federal form. So make sure that you have the Virginia specific form.

One thing before we move forward, on May 10th, they the program did see some changes. One of the things that I do know is changed is they are going to require you to submit income and assets associated with the property.

Once all those documents are in, it’s time to start to get access to the actual webpage. In order to do that, going to email the documents that you have. You don’t actually have to do all at once. I don’t think they require the lease and things like that, but if you email them all, then you’ll be good to go and just to play it safe and that’ll expedite the process. Typically they get back to you within 24 – 48 hours in order to get you access to the VHDA site.

I have access to the Grant’s site, now what?

Once you’re in. You’re then going to start uploading documents. There’s  four things that you’re going to have once you upload the documents…

1. The landlord agreement
2. The tenant agreement
3. A tenant certification
4. A landlord certificate certificate

One important thing to mention is that, as the Owner, you are signing away your right to evict the tenant for any past due rent.  This does mean that you can still evict if they fall behind again though.

When you apply, you can actually apply for the next month’s rent as well. So you don’t only apply for the rear, but the next one month and at the time of recording this video I believe now they’ve announced that you can go two months in the future.

If there are any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via email or a call/text.