Emergency Rent Relief Continues for Alaskans
By Bryan Butcher, CEO & Executive Director 

The past year has demonstrated the resilience of the people of Alaska as our communities have faced challenges with remarkable tenacity. As the stages of the pandemic have continued to evolve, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation has remained committed to providing crucial resources to vulnerable Alaska tenants and landlords. Our top goal? Keep Alaskans in their homes and reduce the fear associated with eviction — with safety, security, and well-being top-of-mind.

A recent Wall Street Journal report showed that Alaska, via Alaska Housing Rent Relief, is among the top five states in the nation in delivery of funds, with payments going directly to landlords and utility companies. Alaska renters were among the first to be approved for assistance.

To date, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, collaborating with its trusted statewide partners, has distributed more than $120 million in federal rent relief funds to landlords and utility companies to the benefit of more than 50,000 Alaska residents.

Despite these successes, many Alaska renters continue to experience financial hardships related to the pandemic. For Alaska renters currently facing these anxieties, a new Rent Relief application window opened Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2021 and will close Oct. 1, 2021. An online eligibility checker at AlaskaHousingRelief.org streamlines the process and makes it easy to quickly verify eligibility and apply for payments to be issued to landlords. 

Alaska Housing Rent Relief is open to all Alaskan renters who may be experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19, and I encourage everyone who is in need of assistance to apply. Please share this information with your family, friends, and neighbors.

New Alaska Housing Rent Relief Applications 

AHFC is accepting applications from Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2021 to Oct. 1, 2021, providing up to three months of rent relief to eligible applicants who meet the federal requirements. View our Rent Relief FAQs for more information.

Mortgage Relief is Coming 

Are you a homeowner struggling to pay your mortgage? AHFC is slated to receive $50 million to assist homeowners impacted by COVID-19. Pending guidance from the U.S. Treasury, AHFC will announce details about eligibility and the application process.

The success of Alaska Housing Rent Relief has been recognized nationwide by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Local news outlets are also spreading the word to help Alaskans in need — Ketchikan Daily News, Wrangell Sentinel, Frontiersman, Kodiak KMXT.

Special Thanks: What's Alaska's secret?

"Partnership," says AHFC's CEO/Executive Director Bryan Butcher. "The Municipality of Anchorage and regional housing authorities and tribal partners merged their resources with us. Alaskans have been able to rely on AlaskaHousingRelief.org to apply for the program and get reliable information about the eviction moratorium. Nonprofits have helped us to process applications working evenings and weekends. And landlords have relied on their tenants to communicate about the challenges they were experiencing and the help they sought. We're all working together. This represents the best of us."

Alaska Housing Rent Relief Program Update

As of September 10th, AHFC has made payments on 19,668 applications totaling $121,658,117.53 paid to landlords and utilities, and serving 50,972 Alaskans across the state.