Governor Justice announces applications now being accepted for rental assistance program

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - West Virginia Governor Jim Justice has announced applications are now being accepted for a rental assistance program.

The governor held a press briefing Friday morning.

In January, Governor Justice announced a new rental assistance program. As of Friday, the Mountaineer Rental Assistance Program is now taking applications, according to the West Virginia Housing Development Fund.

This program will help renters and landlords who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. This includes past-due payments going back to April 1, 2020, plus three future rental payments.

They will also cover past due and current utilities including electric, water, gas, sewer and trash removal. There is a one time stipend for internet for $300.

The West Virginia Housing Development Fund says there is criteria you need to meet in order to be eligible for this program. Household income needs to be at or below 80% of the area medium income for your county. You have to be a renter and have experienced COVID hardship such as lost wages or unemployment and be at risk of homelessness or housing instability.

These payments, once approved, will go directly towards landlords and utility companies.

For more information on the rental assistance program, click here or call 211.

Governor Justice also says the investigation on the unreported COVID-19 deaths is complete and there will be an update given Friday afternoon to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. He says they will review it and any actions or corrections that need to be made will be done.

This is a developing story.

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