Douglas County Commissioner to continue pushing for renter support

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Douglas County set aside $10 million in CARES Act funds for rent assistance this summer, and there’s still roughly $2 million to be spent.

That’s along with whatever amount comes down the pike from the COVID relief bill that was passed last week.

Douglas County Commissioner James Cavanaugh says he plans on pushing the county to hand over rental assistance to local nonprofits.

“I think by engaging with our partners in the non-for-profit rent-assistance community, they’ll have more latitude to streamline the application process ... to speed up the delivery of assistance to people who are kind of stuck in the process right now,” Cavanaugh said. “I get a lot of calls from people who have made an application and are still waiting to hear — and it’s Dec. 31.”

The second round of COVID relief also includes an extension on the eviction moratorium through the end of January.

Legal Aid of Nebraska says if you’re worried about being evicted, it’s important to fill out the CDC’s declaration and hand it over to your landlord. If you’ve already done that, there’s no need to fill it out again.

RESOURCE: CDC eviction order FAQs

For the roughly 2 million people left over in CARES Act rental assistance, the county commissioners will have to vote on exactly how to spend that money when they return in the new year.

The deadline for spending CARES Act funds have been extended past the original Dec. 31 deadline.

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This is a developing story. Stay with 6 News for updates.

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