Douglas County’s Health and Human Services committee are hearing from members of the public on roadblocks they are encountering when trying to get CARES Act funding to help pay their rent.
The Douglas County Board of Commissioners are figuring out ways to get the word out to landlords about their role when getting the federal pandemic assistance funds for their tenants. If the landlord doesn't fill out their part of the application, the tenants won't get any CARES Act assistance.
New numbers show that about 35% of renters applying for assistance still need their landlords to fill out their portion of the application so that they can receive financial help with their rent. So far, Douglas County has gotten nearly 2,000 applications for CARES Act aid. The county says about 10% of the applications have been approved so far.
County leaders say they are seeing some issues with landlords not being notified of the applications because their email address has been entered incorrectly, so they aren’t prompted to fill out their portion of the application. Some property managers said their tenants have had trouble filling out the application on mobile devices, which for some is the only way they have to access the internet.