Program Eligibility

In order to be eligible for services under the EDDP, households must:

• Reside within Dane County
• Household Income at or below 50% of Area Median Income ("AMI")
• Experienced Financial Hardship, directly or indirectly, due to COVID-19
• Must have an eviction-related court filing or must be at risk of eviction

Documenting Household Income

In order to document household income, tenants must provide current income documentation for all adult household members, even if they currently lack income. There are a few ways to document income under the program:

• Wage Statements or Pay Stubs
  • We're required to review at least 28 consecutive days of pay documentation; so be sure to include 2 pay stubs if you get paid every two weeks; 4 pay stubs if you get paid weekly; and 1 pay stub if you get paid monthly
• Public Benefits Statements or Letters
  • Households can verify income using participation in another benefits program (such as SSI, SSDI, FoodShare, etc.)
  • Be sure to include a full copy of the documentation you have from the program (typically called a determination letter, eligibility letter, or confirmation letter); not just a few pages
  • Be sure the letter includes the names of all adult household members you're including with this form of income documentation; if someone is missing from the letter, be sure to submit other forms of documentation for that household member
• Self-Certification
  • In some limited situations, households may not be able to provide any of the documents listed above; we'll first try to document household income using the methods listed above, but if you're paid in cash, aren't able to get copies of pay stubs or benefits letters, or in situations where some/all household members don't have any income we'll use self-certification to handle household income

Note: As of June 1st, 2023, the EDDP cannot verify household income using tax returns or other tax documents. We're required to use one of the methods listed above to document household income.

Who in my Household Needs to Document Income?

Some situations are a bit different than others, but typically all household members that either 1) reside within the household and/or 2) contribute financially to the costs within the household. The funding requires that we compare household members against the names of individuals named in an eviction action, named in the rental agreement, or who are otherwise identified as being members of the household. If someone is listed in either an eviction filing or the rental agreement who doesn't live in the household anymore, we'll need to document when those household members vacated the unit.

What Services Does EDDP Provide?

Subject to limitations from the various funding sources that make up the EDDP, eligible households can receive the following services under the program:

• Financial Assistance-Rental Arrears/Back-Owed Rents
• Financial Assistance-Utility Arrears/Back-Owed Utilities
• Financial Assistance-Security Deposit/Move-In Assistance
• Financial Assistance-Short-term Rental Assistance
• Referrals for Legal Services
• Housing Navigation
• Housing Mediation
• Court Navigation
• Housing Counseling
• Short-Term Case Management

Prioritization of Applicants

In accordance with the federal requirements of our funding, the Tenant Resource Center has established prioritization factors for processing applications under this program. The factors for prioritization are as follows:

• Total Number and Outcome of Previous Eviction Filings
• Number of Months in Back-Owed Rents
• Previous Criminal History or Incarceration Status
• Receipt of Rent Subsidies
• Household Incomes (at or below 30% AMI)
• Household is Single-Parent-Led
• Household Faces Language Barriers