(The Center Square) - Maricopa County launched an $800,000 pilot program to help households facing eviction.
The county Board of Supervisors allocated the money for the Eviction Prevention Pilot Program in the Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
The program for Arizona's most populous county aims to reduce the number of evictions. Maricopa County courts have processed more than 80,000 eviction filings for three consecutive years, Board of Supervisors Chair Kate Brophy McGee said.
The county is partnering with the city of Phoenix on the program, which will target four zip codes in Arizona’s biggest city that have high eviction rates: 85008, 85040, 85041 and 85042.
Participants can get up to $3,200 in rental assistance.
Tamara Bridwell, Maricopa County Department of Human Services director, said the maximum is based on “the National Center for State Courts’ Eviction Diversion Strategic Planning Report.”
“In 2024, the average eviction judgment was $3,156.86, reflecting a growing financial burden on tenants since 2021, when the average judgment first exceeded $3,000,” Bridwell told The Center Square.
“This cap was established to provide meaningful assistance toward resolving a temporary rental arrearage while maximizing the number of households that can be served with available pilot funding,” she added.
"Assistance is based on each household’s verified rental arrears,” Bridwell said, stressing that the $3,200 figure is the maximum number. “Actual awards may be lower.”
As of Aug. 21, the pilot program received 469 applications for rental assistance, Bridwell said, noting applications are no longer being accepted.
Bridwell said a household that qualifies for the program and receives rental assistance will get the money only once.
“The program is designed to address a temporary financial hardship and prevent an eviction filing, rather than provide ongoing rental assistance,” she said.
According to Bridwell, the program prioritizes “households that are approximately one to two months behind on rent, fell behind because of a temporary emergency or financial setback, have a history of paying rent, and are likely to be able to pay rent moving forward.”
Households must provide documentation to “verify hardship that backs these guidelines, the amount owed, and analyze the household’s income, resources, and housing sustainability before assistance is provided,” she noted.
Bridwell explained the county will make payments “directly to landlords to bring rent current.”
In addition to the rental assistance, Jacqueline Edwards, director of Phoenix’s Human Services Department, said the city will assess applicants to determine whether they need help paying monthly bills, such as electricity, water or other utilities.
The city will also offer these households “coaching and case management services,” Edwards told The Center Square.
Case management services work with households to set goals, find out what their needs are and see if the city or other community-based agencies can help them be “stably housed,” she noted.
Edwards said Phoenix's part of the program is paid by the city, not the county.
Phoenix has numerous funding sources for emergency financial assistance, including the city’s general fund, utility company funding, state funding and nonprofit funding, Edwards explained.
The city will evaluate households “based on their needs and see what they qualify for and what would serve them best,” she noted. She added the money would go directly to the provider of services, not the household.
Courtney LeVinus, Arizona Multihousing Association’s CEO, told The Center Square that she thinks the rental assistance program will be “highly successful" in keeping tenants in their homes without missing their rent payments.
Over 96% of eviction cases filed in the Maricopa County courts involve failure to pay rent on time, LeVinus said
The CEO noted the multi-housing association was part of a working group that helped identify ways to reduce evictions in Maricopa County.
She said landlords who are association members are “excited to work on the program.”
LeVinus said she thinks the program will uncover a “huge need” for short-term rental assistance in Maricopa County.
The way the program is structured will show “positive results” and “hopefully” enable Maricopa County to secure more funds in the future to continue this type of assistance, according to LeVinus.
