Mississippi Rental Assistance Grant Program
What to Expect – Mississippi Rental Assistance Grant Program
Last week, the Mississippi Legislature passed House Bill 1810 which created the Rental Assistance Grant Program. The program will be administered by the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA), who also administered the Back to Business program for Covid-19 small business assistance. While MDA is still developing the rules and application process for the program, rental businesses and property managers should start taking steps to apply for the program.
Below is some guidance from MAAHP and MAA based on the bill language to help interested applicants prepare. Please note the answers to the questions below are not based on official information but are based on the language in House Bill 1810 and our best guesses. We will send out official information as soon as we have it.
Why should my rental business apply for the Rental Assistance Grant Program?
The program will allow eligible rental businesses to apply for compensation of “lost rental income,” defined as “all payments that were due under a rental agreement to be made to an eligible rental business between March 1, 2020, and December 30, 2020, that were not paid due to the business disruption effects of the public health emergency and eviction moratoria.” In other words, the program is meant to compensate rental properties for unpaid rent that has not been paid by tenants due to job and income losses related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The program will help rental businesses recover lost rent revenue from Covid-19 and to credit payments to tenants who are delinquent.
Who can apply?
Rental businesses will make applications directly to MDA; tenants cannot apply for this program directly. Eligible rental businesses are defined as “a for-profit or not-for-profit corporation, a limited liability company, a partnership or a sole proprietorship that (i) is the owner, lessor, or sublessor of a dwelling unit, commercial building or the building of which it is a part in the State of Mississippi, and (ii) filed Mississippi taxes for tax year 2018 or 2019, or, for an eligible business formed on or after January 1, 2020, intends to file Mississippi taxes for tax year 2020, unless exempt under Section 27-7-29, Section 27-13-63 or other applicable provision of law.”
How much assistance can an eligible rental business receive?
Rental businesses can apply for a grant of up to $30,000.
What are the conditions on receiving the assistance?
The bill states: “An eligible rental business that accepts a grant under this section shall consider any rental payments due under a rental agreement at the property for which the grant is made as having been paid in full through December 30, 2020. An eligible rental business that accepts a grant under this section may not evict a tenant from the dwelling unit for nonpayment of rent that accrued between March 1, 2020, and December 30, 2020. Acceptance of grant funds does not prohibit an eligible rental business from beginning eviction proceedings for lawful purposes other than nonpayment of rent that accrued between March 1, 2020, and December 30, 2020, when allowed by law or regulation.”
When will the program start accepting applications?
It is unclear when the program will start taking applications, but we estimate it will be the week of October 19th or shortly thereafter. We do know that House Bill 1080 sets the deadline for filing applications as November 15th and allows MDA to move the deadline up to ensure all payments go out before December 14th.
How much total assistance is available?
$20 million of total assistance is available. Commercial rental businesses (non-residential buildings) are eligible for up to 25% of the total funding and it is reasonable to assume awards to commercial rental businesses will reach that maximum. That would leave $15 million for residential rental businesses.
What type of documentation will be needed for an application?
MDA has not released the application guidelines and required documentation, however potential documentation includes copies of lease agreements for tenants with unpaid rent and state tax returns filed by the rental business. We expect this documentation to be submitted via an online portal, so make sure you have electronic copies of all documents.
What should I be doing now to prepare for the program?
Potential applicants should be tabulating all unpaid rent since March 1st and collecting copies of leases for tenants with unpaid rent. Property managers should be contacting owners to inform them about the program and prepare them to collect needed documentation and sign application forms.
We encourage potential applicants to start taking steps now to prepare their applications. MAAHP and MAA will send out official information on the program as it is made available.