Palm Beach County offering more assistance to businesses hurt by COVID. Mortgage next.

Article Courtesy of  The Palm Beach Post

By Hannah Morse

Published September 30, 2020

  

Palm Beach County has millions of federal dollars left to give to residents and businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

After awarding about 3,000 local businesses more than $50 million, the county’s Restart Business grant program fueled by federal CARES Act dollars reopened to applicants on Friday on a first-come, first-served basis.

Businesses forced to close or limit their activities because of state or county orders can receive up to $25,000. Applicants will be required to provide documents such as tax returns, payroll reports as well as an active Palm Beach County business tax receipt or exemption from the tax collector’s office.

The application period will end Oct. 9 at 11:59 p.m.

The same day the business grant program closes for a second time, the county’s mortgage assistance application process will reopen at 8 a.m.

Eligible applicants must prove they were unable to make mortgage or HOA payments as a result of the pandemic, whether because of loss of income, reduced hours or unemployment. An applicant’s income must also be at or below 140% of the area median income.

While applicants can receive up to $10,000 for six months of delinquent mortgage and HOA payments, the average assistance provided during the previous application period was more than $6,000.

Nearly $5.5 million has been paid to 870 applicants as of Thursday. The application period ends Nov. 16.

For more information on either program, visit discover.pbcgov.org/HES.

To catch up on processing almost 6,000 applications, the county temporarily stopped accepting applications for rent and utility help and will only accept new applications if money is still available. The county has given out more than $3.4 million in rent utility assistance as of Thursday.

But the county is still offering food assistance.

Residents who lost their jobs or had their hours reduced because of COVID-19, and whose total income is at or below 140% of the area median income, are eligible to receive a one-time pre-paid debit card.

Households of one or two people can receive $400; households with three or four people can receive $800; and households with five or more people can receive $1,000. For more information or to apply, visit www.rentalassistancepbc.org.

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