I-Team Update: Dallas renter finally receives relief funds after Texas originally sends the money to the wrong landlord
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — On the heels of a CBS 11 I-Team investigation into the Texas Rent Relief program, a Dallas woman received the financial help she had been waiting for for more than eight months.
After being approved for rent assistance in August by the Texas Rent Relief program, on Friday Maraleah's apartment informed her that the funds from the state had finally arrived.
"Paying off my rent debt was the best feeling I've had in years," Maraleah told the I-Team. "But waiting for it has been the most stressful thing I've probably ever gone through."
An I-Team investigation found the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), which oversees the Texas Rent Relief program, originally sent the funds intended for Maraleah to the wrong landlord.
Maraleah said she was counting on the rent funds, so when the money was sent to the wrong landlord, she feared being evicted.
The I-Team discovered this was not an isolated mistake.
TDHCA has now sent out more than 7,000 recapture notices in hopes of getting back funds that were sent in error.
State officials said some of the notices were sent to people who received duplicate benefits. Renters who received assistance from local rent relief programs are not eligible to receive funds from the state program. Other notices were sent to people who received the money by mistake.
So far, the state has been able to recapture $10.6 million, but housing department officials told the I-Team they do not currently know how much more money the state still needs to recapture.
Several renters, like Maraleah, waited months to receive relief funds they were approved for while the state tried recover the mistaken payments.
When the I-Team reached out to Texas State Representative Philip Cortez, who chairs Texas House Urban Affairs Committee which oversees TDHAC, his office said the state lawmaker was unaware of details of the problem with the Texas Rent Relief program but would look into it further.
Cortez later provided the following statement.
"TDHCA has had a reoccurring problem with the checks that are being sent out to recipients of the Texas rent relief program. TDHCA has sent out more than 7,000 recapture notices. Some notices were sent to people who received duplicate benefits while others were sent to landlords who were issued the payments in error. TDHCA is attempting to fix this error. It just needs time to resend the checks to the appropriate applicants and or landlords while it receives the funds sent in error back. It is imperative and our goal that residents of Texas have a roof over their head during these trying times. We will continue to strive toward that goal every day."
