Rental Assistance Program Application opens Wed., April 17 from 12 noon to 8 p.m.

April 12, 2024 News Release in PDF

Monterey City Council passed a resolution at the March 19, 2024 City Council meeting to designate $250,000 from the General Fund for rental assistance to eligible Monterey households that are faced with housing instability issues. The program’s online application period will open for one day, Wednesday, April 17 from 12:00 p.m. (noon) to 8:00 p.m. The online application will be available at https://monterey.gov/rentalassistance. Complete instructions in English and Spanish are part of the application, and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section is also available on the website.

The City will provide up to three months of rental assistance in an amount not to exceed $5,000. Other assistance may include one-time legal assistance, housing counseling and will be capped at $3,000 per applicant. In addition, other assistance, such as help paying a deposit (in the form of a loan), will also be provided to the same applicant if the client needs multiple types of assistance. Total assistance will not exceed $8,000 per applicant.

Housing Manager Anastacia Wyatt said, “We understand there is a strong need for housing assistance from the community, and we are proud to be a city stepping up to provide this critical help. While we realize we don’t have the capacity to help everyone who applies for this program assistance, we will continue to help as many people as we can.”

The applications will be accepted on a first come/first served basis. Each month, the first ten eligible applicants will be selected for review and assistance. The application period will be open during the middle of each month (as long as program funds are available). The City expects to receive more applications than there are funds available and will open the application window open for an eight-hour period. Should the City not receive enough applications, the application window will be open until enough eligible applications are received. Applicants not selected can reapply in future months.