COVID-19 Letter to Housing Choice Voucher Program Participants

OPEN LETTER TO HCV PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS

April 7, 2020

Dear Housing Choice Program Participants,

We hope this letter finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. The past few weeks have, undoubtedly, been some of the most life-changing weeks we've seen in modern times. The looming threat of the COVID-19 coronavirus has taken this country, and our state, by storm. We are hoping and praying that the extreme social distancing will prove effective to slow the spread of this illness and that we'll all soon be back to normal.

At this time, our offices remain closed due to the Shelter-in-Place and Stay-At-Home orders. We are responding to emergency inspections and conducting vacant unit move-in inspections. As always, please call 803.251.2747 and leave us a message or email us at COVID19@columbiahousingsc.org.

As April 1st has passed, you should have paid your portion of the rent and your landlord should have received their Housing Assistance Payment portion of the rent from Columbia Housing for the month April. We know how important having a safe place to call home is for our families and we want to do everything we can to help maintain stable housing for you during this time. Listed below is some information that may be helpful.

YOUR RENT TO LANDLORD

• Rent is still due on the 1st of every month.
• We have sent reminders to residents that rent is still due on the 1st of the month.
• We have waived our operational policies making it easier for families to have part of the rent reduced if they have lost income related to COVID-19 pandemic. During the COVID-19 crisis, we are allowing residents to self-certify and waiving the verification requirement. Public Housing residents and Housing Choice Voucher participants may now more easily report loss of income through one of the following methods:

1. Complete a fillable form. 

Housing Choice Voucher Program Participants

Public Housing Residents

OR                                 

2. Send an e-mail to covid19@columbiahousingsc.org

OR

3. Call 803-251-2747 and verbally report the loss of income.

We will process any income changes that may impact their rent portion and our housing assistance payments amounts within five (5) business days. The changes in tenant rent and housing assistance payments will be effective on the first day of the month following the reported income change. 

OUR PAYMENT TO OWNERS/LANDLORDS

• We will continue to pay our portion of the housing assistance payment as scheduled.

UTILITY REIMBURSEMENT PAYMENTS TO RESIDENTS

• We will continue to load tenant US Bank pre-paid cards as scheduled.

This is a rapidly changing time for everyone, tenants and landlords alike. We will continue to monitor the economic landscape in the coming weeks and months. Thank you for being a valued program participant and we look forward to getting through these tough times together. As always, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Ivory N. Mathews

Interim Executive Director

COVID-19 Letter to HCV Participants - April 7, 2020

COVID-19 Letter to HCV Participants - March 19, 2020

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For more information on Columbia Housing's COVID-19 Response please visit our COVID-19 Response web page. 

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