Changes made to commercial rent assistance program to expand eligibility

The treasurer’s office and Governor’s Office of Economic Development on Monday announced changes to the commercial rent assistance program to expand the number of businesses eligible for help.

A spokesman said the goal is to ensure that the number of commercial evictions is as low as possible. The pandemic commercial rent assistance grants are available to businesses that can verify a loss of at least 30 percent of revenue compared with last year.

First, the application deadline has been extended by a week to Sept. 8.

Second, they have standardized the amount of rent assistance a business can receive at a maximum of $10,000.

Finally, they removed the requirement that businesses and non-profits cannot have received more than $5,000 in Paycheck Protection funding or other COVID-19 grants that could have been used for rent.