PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Gov. Tom Wolf has extended a state program that provides financial assistance to renters and homeowners who've fallen behind on their payments during the pandemic.
The governor's emergency order issued Monday gives people until Nov. 4 to apply for grant money from the Pennsylvania Mortgage Assistance Program and Rental Relief Program.
It expired on Sept. 30.
However, the order does not address the guidelines that have been sharply criticized by housing rights advocates.
"It's not streamlined, it's not easy access for people," said Patty Torres, organizing director of Make the Road Pa. "It requires so many people to work and you have a cap of $750 a month for households, and we know that $750 a month is not enough and landlords are rejecting that program."
She claims that as of mid-September, only $3.5 million had been distributed from a pot of $150 million that had been set aside for renters.
Make the Road was among more than 60 community groups, tenant advocacy organizations and elected officials that signed a letter last week to the governor, urging him to comply with the Centers for Disease Controls' moratorium on evictions that runs through the end of the year.
