Abbott commits 95% of total funds from Texas rent relief program to Texans in need of rent, utility assistance

AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott today announced that the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has committed over 95% of total funds from the Texas Rent Relief Program to Texans who applied for assistance.

Texas was the first state to distribute $1 billion in rent relief funds, and the Texas program has served more households and provided more relief funds than any other state while reaching over 98% of its counties.

The agency is in the process of notifying the remaining applicants about their status, next steps, and additional resources available for rental assistance.

The remaining funds will be committed and disbursed in the new year. TDHCA closed its application portal for the Texas Rent Relief program in November due to the total requests for assistance exceeding funds available.

“The Texas Rent Relief program has provided hundreds of thousands of Texans with utility and rental assistance, and I thank TDHCA for ensuring that these funds were distributed swiftly to those that needed it most,” said Governor Abbott. “As TDHCA commits and disburses the remaining funds of the program, I urge Texans still in need of assistance to visit the Texas Rent Relief program website for other possible rent and utility resources across the state.”

Governor Abbott and TDHCA launched the Texas Rent Relief program in February 2021 — the first statewide rent and utility assistance program for qualifying households throughout Texas.

As of Friday, the program has distributed nearly $2 billion, with more than 300,000 Texan households having been assisted or in the final payment process.

For more information, visit the Texas Rent Relief program website