News

Pandemic relief measure provides rental, utility, and internet assistance to more than 9000 Kansas families 

TOPEKA, Kan.— The Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance (KERA) program has provided more than $51.9 million in relief funding to communities across the state. To date, KERA funds have supported 23,834 residents of 9,220 tenant households and 3,786 landlords facing financial hardship as a result of the COVID pandemic. 

When Nick Baumgartner’s small business began to flounder in 2020, he could not afford to pay his rent and was barely keeping up with utility bills. “I never had to ask for any kind of financial assistance before,” said Baumgartner, whose Topeka business served local restaurants. “But because restaurants were so negatively impacted by the pandemic, my profits suffered too.” 

That’s when Baumgartner’s landlord suggested they jointly apply for Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance (KERA). After receiving rental assistance, his landlord was made whole, and Baumgartner was able to keep his own business running, helping local restaurants bounce back financially. He has since reapplied for three prospective months of rental assistance. 

KERA provides rent, utility, and internet assistance to households financially impacted by the COVID pandemic. Landlords and tenants apply via a joint application process, and payments are made directly to housing and service providers. Once eligible KERA applicants receive assistance for any past-due amounts, they are eligible to recertify for three prospective months of rental assistance at a time, for a total of up to 15 months of support.  

Recent program updates have streamlined application processing and provided additional resources to Kansans at risk of eviction: 

• Thanks to recent changes in Treasury rules, KERA applicants can now self-attest to eligibility guidelines including household income, COVID hardship, and housing instability, easing the documentation burden and shortening processing time.  
• The program’s new Bridge to Housing Stability initiative has partnered with community organizations across the state, providing more than $7.3 million to support Kansans experiencing homelessness. Bridge partners use KERA funds to provide hotel vouchers, housing counseling, and rapid rehousing solutions, helping tenants enter into new leases with KERA funding. 
• KERA has prioritized applicants at imminent risk of eviction and utility shutoff, halting 349 active evictions, preventing utility shutoffs for more than 1,900 households, and restoring utility services to more than 100 homes. 
• Through partnerships with the legal community, KERA has provided free representation to applicants engaged in eviction proceedings, as well as program resources and training to attorneys and judges. These efforts have helped tenants avoid eviction and helped landlords avoid legal action. 

Funded by the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations act of 2021, the KERA program is administered by Kansas Housing Resources Corporation (KHRC).  

To learn more and apply, please visit: kshousingcorp.org/emergency-rental assistance. 

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Kansas Housing Resources Corporation (KHRC) is a self-supporting, nonprofit, public corporation committed to helping Kansans access the safe, affordable housing they need and the dignity they deserve. KHRC serves as the state’s housing finance agency (HFA), administering essential housing and community programs to serve Kansans. 

The pandemic has affected us individually in different ways, yet it has also reminded us that we are all connected. The ripple effects of one business closing or one family being evicted are felt throughout a community. Those community ripples are felt across the entire state. But when the opposite happens—when a worker can pay their rent and keep their job, or when a housing provider can afford to stay in business because they are able to recover rental arrears—the positive effects ripple throughout a community as well.

To date, the Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance Program has provided $49,612,527 million to 8,846 Kansas households, positively impacting the lives of 21,985 tenants and 3,729 landlords across the state. Beyond the individual impact of keeping nearly 8,850 Kansas families safely housed, that translates to nearly $50 million injected into our local economies to stimulate economic recovery. Landlords—many of them small business owners—can afford to keep running their businesses and pay their property taxes, which fund essential public services including schools. Tenants can get back to work without massive rental debts and evictions on their records, while keeping their families safely housed. For those experiencing homelessness due to the pandemic, KERA funding provides hotel and motel vouchers, housing counseling, and rapid rehousing through KHRC’s new Bridge to Housing Stability initiative.

Each of those nearly 8,850 Kansas families has a story. Nick Baumgartner is just one Kansan who has paid forward the benefits of the rental assistance he’s received from KERA.

Baumgartner’s small business serves the needs of local restaurants in the Topeka area, many of which struggled financially during the pandemic. “I never needed to ask for any kind of financial assistance before,” he said. “But because restaurants were so negatively impacted by the pandemic, my business suffered too.” When the money from his SBA loan ran out in 2020, Baumgartner’s family had to choose between paying rent or utilities, and that’s when his landlord told him to apply for the KERA program.

“I never needed to ask for any kind of financial assistance before,” he said. “But because restaurants were so negatively impacted by the pandemic, my business suffered too.”

“It took me less than 10 minutes to fill out the KERA application, and when I had questions, the customer service team was incredibly helpful and efficient during a stressful time,” Baumgartner said. “After my landlord was paid for past-due rent, I was able to apply for three months of future rental assistance.”

Baumgartner says the KERA program allowed him to keep his small business running, and “allowed us to continue to be there for our clients and our customers without worrying about having to send them to collections.” KERA not only assisted his family, but kept his clients in business, helping local restaurants bounce back again.

Baumgartner has told several people to apply for the KERA program. “They’ve already been funded and are doing well again,” he said.

The ripple effects of Baumgartner’s rental assistance were felt throughout his local community. At KHRC, we’re proud to continue to facilitate these growing ripples across Kansas.

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Kansas Housing Resources Corporation (KHRC) is a self-supporting, nonprofit, public corporation committed to helping Kansans access the safe, affordable housing they need and the dignity they deserve. KHRC serves as the state’s housing finance agency (HFA), administering essential housing and community programs to serve Kansans.

As of today, the Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance (KERA) program has assisted nearly 7,800 Kansas households that have struggled financially due to the COVID pandemic by granting more than $41.5 million in rental, utilities, and internet assistance to eligible Kansas households. Every applicant who has received assistance through the KERA program has a unique story to share. One of those applicants is Gary Evert of Olathe.

“My wife Sheryl and I are in our 70s, and before we received our KERA funding, life was really stressful. We didn’t know when we would be able to pay our landlord, but he remained patient, ” said Evert.

“The best part about this program,” Evert said, “was the KERA program associate we spoke with. She was so sweet and kind. She was able to point out a few little details I needed to address on the application, and she was always there to answer every single question I had. ‘Take a breath,’ she said, ‘because it’s going to take several breaths before your application is processed.’ We’re all nervous, but when someone can calm you down and give you a sense of hope, it’s very comforting.”

Though we encourage applicants to call KERA customer service at 785-217-2001, Option 1, with questions or concerns, we also encourage you to periodically take a breath as you check your application dashboard to view the status of your application. Eligible households can expect KERA applications to move through some of the following status changes over a period of weeks. Here are some explanations of the various status changes that can help you breathe a little easier:

1. Incomplete/Requires Applicant Response: Your application has either not been submitted, or we have found some missing items that need to be added. Those items will be listed under the “messages” tab in your application dashboard
2.  Pending Initial Review: The KERA Processing team is reviewing the application to make sure all documents we need are uploaded and all necessary fields are accurately filled out to qualify for approval.
3. Pending Property Manager Acceptance: Your application has passed initial review, and we are waiting to receive documents from the property manager or servicer.
4. Utility Review: Your request for rental assistance has been verified, and we are verifying requested utility amounts with the utility and/or internet providers.
5. Final Review: The application has been verified for rental and/or utilities assistance and is being checked one last time before being submitted for funding.
6. Submitted for Funding: The application has passed final review and has been put into the queue for KERA to make the final decision on whether the applicant will receive funding. Once applications reach this status, landlords, property managers, and service providers of eligible households can expect to receive payments within a week and a half
7. Funding Approved: KERA has approved the application and is in the process of sending out funds.
8. Payment Sent: KERA has approved the application and has sent the funding to the landlords, property managers, and service providers. At this stage, applicants can reapply for three prospective months of rental assistance at a time. Instructions for reapplying can be found here: https://conta.cc/3isig4F

If applicants still have questions after checking their status, or need immediate assistance with utility disconnections, restoring utility services, or addressing eviction notices while awaiting funds, they are encouraged to call KERA customer service at: 785-217-2001, Option 1, or to send an email to kera@kshousingcorp.org.