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Kilili: Permanent residents, long-term residents eligible for ERA
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) said over the weekend that permanent residents as well as those with the long-term CNMI resident status created in Public Law 116-24 are eligible to avail of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
In his e-kilili newsletter, Sablan said emergency rental assistance from the American Rescue Plan is available to those in need in the Marianas. Sablan said the U.S. Treasury Department published the websites of each state and territory this week to assist renters get help paying rent, utilities, deposits, and penalties for the period from March 2020 through April 2021.
The Emergency Rental Assistance Program aims to reduce evictions to keep CNMI citizens in stable homes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The delegate said the CNMI has been allocated $10,400,669 on the basis of population for the ERA program under terms of Section 3201 of the American Rescue Plan.
Last March, Office of Grants Management administrator Epiphanio Cabrera Jr. said the ERA program can accept up to 1,500 clients a month. Yet despite a large amount of available funding, they have received only 700 applicants so far at the time.
