Commission Approves $500K Funding for Coral Springs Residents Seeking Mortgage or Rent Assistance

by Guest Contributor August 5, 2020

by Guest Contributor August 5, 2020 2 minutes read

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By Hank McCoy

On August 5, the city commission approved an amendment to Broward County Minority Builders Coalition contract with Coral Springs to allow them to administer Coronavirus Relief Funds received through the Florida Housing Coalition in the amount of $502,500 to help residents with mortgage and rent assistance.

The funds come from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, or CRF, which will be distributed in two separate disbursements, the first once the agreement is signed and sent to the state, and the second is projected for October. Any funds not used by the end of the year would go back to the state.

Ten percent of the funds will go to administration costs, and five percent would go to project delivery. The rest would go to residents who apply.

The city will be focusing on rental and mortgage assistance. For emergency home repair to be an eligible CRF project, income eligible residents must prove loss of income as a direct result of COVID-19. Furthermore, regular home repair is not an eligible project.

Commissioner Joshua Simmons expressed the importance of prioritizing mortgage and rental assistance for the funds.

“Folks that were doing everything they’re required to do before the pandemic are now unable to pay their mortgage or rent,” said Simmons. “I’d prefer that this money goes directly towards the mortgage and rental assistance.”

Community Development Coordinator Neirah Sankar explained that the city used 2019 SHIP funds that normally would have been used for home repair, instead for rental assistance in June. She explained that any SHIP funds put towards rental assistance, the city can use CRF funds to reimburse their SHIP allocation because it’s being used for COVID-19 related rental assistance.

These are CARES Act funds being redistributed by the State as Coronavirus Relief Funds.

There will be a ten-day advertisement on the cities website beginning August 16 to make residents aware of these funds and how to apply. For more information about Coronavirus Relief Fund go to the Florida Housing site.

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