To qualify, your total annual household income should be equal to or less than 80% of the Area Median Income in the District as illustrated in the table below:

Table 1. Household Size
Total household income is less than or equal to:

Household income is determined as one of the following:

• Total household income for calendar year 2020 using the Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) as noted on your Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 1040 series for individual Federal annual income tax purposes; or
• Total household monthly income at the time of application for at least the two months prior to application submission. If this method is used to determine income eligibility, applicants will need to recertify their income every 3 months for any award extensions applied for by the applicant.

Eligible sources of household income are salary, wage, tips, commissions, business income, interest, dividend, Social Security, annuities, insurance policies, retirement funds, pensions, disability or death benefits, unemployment and disability compensation, workers compensation and severance pay, and Welfare Assistance Payments.

You may potentially apply for up to 12 months of back rent (no earlier than April 1, 2020) and up to three months of future rent from the date of application submission. Once your initial application is approved, you may apply for extensions in the future but cannot receive more than a total of 18 months of assistance.

At this time, applicants are eligible to receive rental assistance up to verifiable amounts. No maximum amounts have been set as long as requested amounts can be proved to be valid and due. In the future, however, additional prioritization of funds or funding limits may be instituted to ensure that there is equitable distribution to those disproportionately affected by the pandemic or those demonstrating greater than average need for assistance.

Please refer to the Application User Guide (Tenant or Landlord) on for instructions on how to check your application status online. You will receive email notifications at various stages, including: (1) account creation; (2) application submission; (3) application decision; and (4) fund disbursement.

Award decisions will be announced via email. An award letter will not be sent, so the email will serve in its place. Please ensure the email address you provide in your application is entered correctly.

The rental assistance payment will be mailed directly to the landlord or utility provider. If a landlord does not wish to participate, funds may be paid directly to the eligible household, if approved.

No, as long as the applicant complies with the terms and conditions of the program.

No. This program is open to all rental households in the District regardless of current citizenship status.

You may still be eligible. This Emergency Rental Assistance may only be used to pay for the rent and utility costs that are not already paid by you or paid for by other rental assistance programs.

You may still be eligible for assistance with future rent payments based on your income and situation.

Yes, ONLY if your name is on the lease or sublease or if you are applying for assistance for the portion of rent for which you are responsible. A roommate named on the lease may also apply for assistance for the portion of rent for which the roommate is responsible. All other eligibility criteria must also be met for each applicant and you will be asked for documentation of this responsibility or past payments.

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Emergency Rental Assistance is intended to help eligible households that require financial assistance to pay for rent, utilities, home energy expenses, and other related expenses, and the payments are excluded from income only for those households. Rental payments and/or utility payments you receive, whether from a customer or from a distributing entity on the customer’s behalf, should be included in calculating your gross income. See https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/emergency-rental-assistance-frequently-asked-questions

Per DC Official Code § 42-3501.01, for any eviction authorized in a case filed prior to March 11, 2020, that involves non-payment of rent, the housing provider shall contact the Department of Human Services to determine whether the tenant has a pending Emergency Rental Assistance Program (“ERAP”) and/or STAY DC application no earlier than 5 business days and no later than 48 hours prior to the scheduled date and time of the eviction.
Landlord should send an email to both [email protected] and [email protected] with the following subject line:
“Landlord inquiry – Pre-Eviction Application Status”
Include Tenant Name and Unit Address in body of the email.