RENTAL ASSISTANCE

We will start taking applications by appointment only in January 2025. Every Friday at noon, starting on Friday, January 10, you can visit this page to fill out an online intake and request an appointment. We expect that appointments will fill up quickly, so please try to be ready to click the link at exactly noon.

After your appointment, if we have all the documents and information that we need from you, we will typically be able to submit your application to DCA that same week. Once DCA receives an application, they start reviewing it within days, and usually issue a final decision within weeks.

We currently expect to be able to accept new applications through July 2025.

Each Friday at noon, intake appointments will become available on this page. If you are able to sign up for an appointment, we will send you a separate link later the same day and you will be required to provide information and documents that will help Legal Aid assess your eligibility. If you may be eligible, we will confirm your appointment and call you at the time you selected. If we determine that you are eligible during that conversation, we will start working on your application immediately. You will need to provide all required documents and sign all required forms. Once your application is submitted, it is in DCA’s hands. DCA makes all decisions on approval or denial of applications. If you are approved, DCA will pay the money to your landlord, or in some cases, to you directly. Atlanta Legal Aid does not handle any of the funds and does not make any of the decisions on applications. Our role is to walk you through the process and help you apply.

On March 11, 2024, DCA stopped processing all recertifications. This means that if you applied before that date and were told that you had a certain number of months remaining, that is unfortunately no longer the case. Anyone who did not recertify for more assistance or who was not eligible to recertify for more assistance yet as of March 11 will not be able to receive any additional funding under this program, even if they have not used all 18 months of potential eligibility. At this time, you can apply for your rental arrears and possibly up to 3 months of future rent, depending on how many months you have used already. No one can receive more than 3 months of future rent anymore.

If you have already submitted an application to DCA with the help of Legal Aid, you cannot submit another one. DCA will consider that a duplicate application. However, if you applied several years ago without Legal Aid, you may be able to submit a new one with our help.

If DCA denies your application for assistance, you have the right to file an appeal by email within 14 days of your denial. Your navigator will discuss this process with you. If DCA denies your appeal, there is unfortunately no further recourse. All appeal decisions are final.

If you leave your home before the marshals come to legally evict you, DCA will consider this to be leaving “voluntarily,” and NOT being evicted. If you reach an agreement with your landlord in court to leave by a certain day and you leave by that date, DCA will consider you to have left voluntarily. This means that they will likely not assist you with moving expenses such as: hotel, storage unit, or moving truck. The decision of whether and when to leave is a difficult decision that is specific to each person. You should speak with an attorney before deciding what to do.

This means that the program where tenants could apply for assistance directly with DCA has ended. Instead, tenants must apply through Atlanta Legal Aid or the Georgia Legal Services Program, depending on what county they live in. To receive help from DCA, one of these agencies must help you through the process.

If you have been evicted from your home by the marshals, DCA may be able to assist you with “other expenses,” including: a moving truck, a storage unit, and/or a hotel stay. DCA cannot reimburse you for money you have spent on these items. You can submit a quote for any of these items, and if approved, DCA can send you the money so that you can book the reservation. You then must upload receipts to DCA to show that you used the money for that purpose.

You must attempt to give the payment to your landlord or risk severe penalties. Your landlord is not required to participate in the program or accept the funds if they would rather evict you. If your landlord refuses to accept payment, you should document proof of that. You can then use the funds to secure other housing.

That is fine, as long as you report it to DCA in your application. DCA cannot approve you for assistance for a month in which you’ve already received assistance from somewhere else.

DCA can pay for rental and utility arrears, future rent and utilities, late fees up to 8% of the total arrears, and in some cases: moving expenses and security deposit for a new home.

DCA will not pay court costs or attorney fees. DCA will not pay late fees that are greater than 8% of the total amount of arrears that you owe. If your landlord does not waive these fees, you may be responsible to pay any fees that DCA does not cover. DCA cannot process an application if your name is not on the lease, and DCA does not assist Padsplit properties.