During the pandemic, more than 15,000 Arizonans have applied for help paying rent. But so far, the state has approved fewer than 900 of those applications. Some Arizona lawmakers say the state isn’t doing its job.

State Reps. Andres Cano and Kirsten Engel are calling for the Arizona Department of Housing to relax requirements for its COVID-19 Rental Eviction Prevention Assistance program. About a quarter of renters seeking help have withdrawn their applications to the program; Cano said that is evidence the requirements are too difficult.

“This is what happens when poor folks are stacked against a bureaucracy; they give up," Cano said.

→ Few Have Been Helped By Arizona COVID-19 Eviction Prevention Program

Cano said he hasn’t been granted a meeting in-person or on the phone with the housing department head. Cano and Engel wrote to the department earlier this month with questions about the COVID-19 program. In response, the department began posting online updates about the number of applicants to the program and percent approved. The department also said it would create a call center to answer applicants' questions. 

But Cano and Engel say more still needs to change. 

“The COVID pandemic started in March and we are still sitting on $4 million and have thousands of applicants throughout the state,” Cano said. "We have not done our job to-date.”

Cano and Engel say the department should not count federal stimulus payments when calculating an applicant's income. And the lawmakers say renters should not have to re-apply for relief monthly. The lawmakers are asking for a response to their written questions by June 22.

The Department of Housing has not responded to KJZZ's requests for an interview.

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