Are you a renter who has lost income due to COVID-19? You may qualify for rental assistance through the City of Philadelphia's Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

Phase 2 of this program is currently accepting applications, and you can apply even if you have previously applied for Phase 1. This program helps both tenants and landlords, by keeping renters in their homes and ensuring landlords continued income. The deadline to apply for rental assistance has been extended to Wednesday, November 4.

The Free Library's Hot Spot Program—working together with the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC)—has created two how-to videos that will guide you through the process of applying for rental assistance. Tenants and landlords both need to fill out applications to apply for assistance, starting first with the tenant's application, followed by the landlord's application. Our two videos below will walk the viewer through each application. We've created these videos with new computer users and varying accessibility needs in mind.

How-to Apply for Emergency Rental Assistance, Phase 2 | Tenants

How-to Apply for Emergency Rental Assistance, Phase 2 | Landlords

Connecting people to the resources they need, while building digital literacy skills, is a core mission of the Hot Spots Program. While we've missed providing in-person assistance to our Hot Spot patrons during COVID-19, we remain committed to providing useful and educational content for all Philadephians. 

To learn more about the rental assistance program, and to begin your application process, visit PHLrentassist.org.