The new Emergency Rental Assistance Program ERAP can provide tenants affected by COVID-19 with money to pay past-due rent, utility and home energy costs, and other related housing expenses for 12-15 months. Although the application may ask, there are no citizenship requirements to receive ERAP. Participation in this program is NOT a Public Charge. The information you provide through the application is confidential and cannot be shared (including with ICE) without your consent. You do not have to answer questions about citizenship or provide a social security number to receive ERAP. The COMPASS online system and some counties do have those questions on their applications. You can leave them blank. You can provide proof of loss of income in many ways including pay stubs, bank statements, or a letter from your employer. You do not have to provide US-government-issued photo identification. You can meet the identification requirement with any local or foreign government-issued identification. If you are encountering a form or an agency that tells you are you ineligible or is requiring you to disclose citizenship, provide a social security number, or rejecting your offer of local or foreign government-issued identification, contact:
Daniel Cortes, Immigrant Rights Attorney at the Community Justice Project, at 610-370-7459 or dcortes@cjplaw.org. Apply for assistance or find out more at www.compass.state.pa.us/compass.web/rap/application.
Regional Housing Legal Services