The City of El Paso and County of El Paso have allocated $13.08 million in funding from the Federal Cares Act to the EP Rent Help program which is Administered by the Paso del Norte Community Foundation.

The program provides rental assistance to landlords of residential rental properties for tenants that are experiencing an economic hardship as a result of COVID-19 and live in El Paso County, including those who live in unincorporated areas of the county and those who live within the incorporated limits of El Paso, Horizon City, San Elizario, Socorro, Clint, Vinton, or Anthony, Texas. 

Eligible landlords of residential rental properties may enroll to participate in the rental assistance program; tenants apply by selecting their landlord from the Participation Directory (Tenants will be able to submit an application even if their landlord chooses not to participate); Landlords then verify the amount of rent the tenant owes.

Landlord enrollment will start April 19th.

Tenants may apply starting April 22nd.

Funding is available for tenants that live in the City of El paso or El Paso County who:

• Have a household income at or below 80% AMI (Area Median Income), approximately $47,100 for a family of four, AND
• Are behind in paying their rent and/or are at risk of eviction, AND
• Are experiencing direct economic impact due to COVID-19, like unemployment, reduction in working hours, business closure, etc

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Tenants can contact the United Way of El Paso County’s Community Resiliency Center at (877) 594-7276 to get guidance on the application process.

No. Income from Economic Impact Payments, also known as stimulus checks, are not included in determining AMI.

Tenants can receive assistance to pay up to 12 months of past due rent and up to 3 months of future rent. The number of months assistance provided will depend on eligibility and funding source.

Landlord registration is encouraged. Tenants will be able to submit an application even if their landlord chooses not to participate, however, approval process for tenants whose landlords are not participating may take longer, since the program has to reach out to the landlord three times over ten days before moving forward to approve direct payment to the tenant, according to program guidelines.

As a previous participating landlord no action is required to remain in the program, as those properties were automatically re-enrolled, but should be aware of the updated Landlord Terms and Conditions. 

Landlords that need to update property’s information, banking information or want to opt out  of the program, thus no longer being eligible to receive rental assistance payments, should email eprent@bakerripley.org

Participating landlords that want to include a new property, should enroll it starting April 19th.

BakerRipley is the program administrator, processing applications and distributing funds.

Tenants can track the status of their rental assistance application at www.eprenthelp.org  Look for the “Check my status” tool.

Tenants will need the following to access their application status:

• Case number. It is the application confirmation number you received either by email or text