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Second Amendment to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program Spending Plan and <br />Appropriation Adjustment of $9,268,716.56 <br />December 7, 2021 <br />Page 3 <br />2 <br />2 <br />6 <br />5 <br />eight nonprofit service providers and the Orange County United Way, pending negotiation <br />of their agreements. <br />The City has assisted everyone who is eligible for emergency rental assistance so far and <br />currently has 215 applications in process (as of November 19, 2021). In total, the City <br />has disbursed over $21.5 million in assistance to date, including Community Development <br />Block Grant – Coronavirus funds (CDBG-CV), State of California Coronavirus Relief <br />Funds (State CARES Act Funds), ERA1 and ERA2 funds. A map of all of the residents <br />who have been assisted as of November 19, 2021, is attached as Exhibit 3. With the <br />amount of ERA2 funding remaining, the City will be able to assist everyone who has an <br />application in process. However, the City’s eight nonprofit service providers have been <br />conducting enhanced outreach and engagement to help households apply for emergency <br />rental assistance and the City receives over 100 applications a week from new applicants <br />seeking assistance. The City is actively meeting the need for emergency rental <br />assistance in our community and the additional $9.2 million will assist more families who <br />have not been served. <br />The City is also receiving a substantial amount of fraudulent applications. Approximately <br />50% of applications received each week are fraudulent. Staff have been removing <br />fraudulent applications each week and has also implemented the following measures to <br />reduce fraud, among other actions: <br />1) The title report for large requests is being pulled to confirm the ownership of the <br />rental unit. <br />2) Applicants are required to meet at least once in person with their assigned <br />nonprofit service provider to verify their identity and lease agreement. <br />3) If a property owner fails to participate in the program, a tenant is eligible to receive <br />payment directly. If the tenant becomes eligible to receive payment, the tenant is <br />required to pick up their check in-person and show proof of identification. <br />4) Additional information is being requested to verify tenants’ lease agreement (e.g. <br />where a tenant reports that they are paying $3,500 per month for a one-bedroom <br />and they are a low-income household.) <br />With the $9.2 million in additional funds, the City will continue to pay off 100% of the rental <br />arrears / past due rent for everyone who applies for assistance. The City will also <br />continue to proactively implement a whatever-it-takes model to prevent evictions for <br />tenants who owe past due rent. The City will continue to work with eight nonprofit service <br />providers to obligate/approve the assistance for each family assigned by the City, and the <br />Orange County United Way will continue to disburse funds for each family approved by <br />the City’s eight nonprofit service providers. <br />Our CARES for Tenants Program must conform to the new statutory requirements of the <br />State ERA2 funds. Staff is still in the process of revising the Program Guidelines, <br />Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Flyers for the CARES for Tenants Program to