Portal for City’s Rental and Utility Relief Program closes again after surge in applications

HONOLULU — Due to extraordinary demand from Oʻahu renters, the City and County of Honolulu’s Rental and Utility Relief Program (RURP) application portal closed again Tuesday afternoon after receiving 2,000 new applications in just over two hours.

The program, an essential resource for thousands of Oʻahu residents and families who suffered severe financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic, temporarily reopened for new applications at 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

The new applications will be funded by $25 million in State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, which were approved by the Honolulu City Council on February 22, 2023. In all, the program has already distributed approximately $216 million in federal funds to help more than 16,000 families stay safely housed.

All requests for rent and utility help are processed on a first-come, first-served basis, and approved applications will be paid as long as funds are available. No application is guaranteed funding.

The City and County of Honolulu, Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement are also organizing in-person application events, and those events will be listed on revitalizeoahu.org/renthelp as they are confirmed. All appointment slots have been filled for the first in-person enrollment event, currently scheduled for June 19, 2023, at Nānākuli Public Library.

Preventing Evictions

Renters who have received an eviction notice are urged to immediately contact The Mediation Center of the Pacific at (808) 521-6767, Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except on State holidays. The Center can hold mediation sessions with renters and landlords to help find common ground. Mediations often lead to agreements on payment plans.

—PAU—