Tuscaloosa County Identifies $750K In Attempted Fraud For Rental Assistance Program

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Despite millions of dollars in emergency assistance benefiting Tuscaloosa County residents struggling to make rent, county officials also say there have been numerous attempts to defraud its Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP).

Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.

Assistant County Administrator David Howell told the Tuscaloosa County Commission on Wednesday that over $750,000 in potential fraud attempts have been identified in the program, coming from tenants and landlords, alike.

This fraud comes, Howell said, in the form of using fake identification, which is coupled with external problems relating to the duplication of benefits being paid for the program, as the county and state both dole out assistance through the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

Howell described this as a "shotgun approach," as many in need may apply through both the county and state ERAP portals. He then said applicants will ultimately take the money from whoever pays out first, all while their application is still being processed — and sometimes paid out a second time.

"I think a lot of it is innocent," he told Patch on Wednesday, referring primarily to the duplication of benefits. "But the outright fraud and suspicious activity, those are obviously a concern ... we had one guy who didn’t qualify due to some income stuff, but he turns around and resubmits and claims his granddaughter, but his daughter had already claimed her."

Howell went to point out that while the equivalent of 20% of what the county has paid out through program has been identified as fraudulent in some way and stopped, that number is much higher statewide, coming in at around 40%.

"The feds are continuously warning and have pages set up and monitoring it," Howell said. "With the [Paycheck Protection Program] and unemployment comp, the fraud there is in the billions of dollars."

High Demand For ERAP

Tuscaloosa County launched its online application portal for its Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) back in July 2021 and, to date, Howell says the local and state programs have paid out $8.17 million in federal aid to eligible Tuscaloosa County residents who are behind on their rent payments.

The demand for the program continues, though. Howell explained that the county, as of the end of January, had applications for assistance to the tune of approximately $15 million.

"We're at a little over 80% approval rate ... so that indicates we will probably have about $12 million of assistance requested. We’re pretty well on target there unless there is a large new influx of requests, which is not unreasonable to expect."

When asked for updates on a timetable for when the county would exhaust its second round of federal ERAP funding, Howell said the program is on course to spend its allotted funding by mid-April.

In terms of how the ERAP funding has been parceled out, residents of the City of Tuscaloosa have received the largest share — $3.24 million thus far — which represents just over 82% of the county's payouts. Additionally, Northport residents have received 10% of the latest round of ERAP funding, coming out to approximately $410,000.

The deadline for the county to spend its first round of federal ERAP funding is Sept. 30, 2022, while the deadline for the second round of federal aid will be much farther out.

Here's a look at ERAP payouts for residents in other west Alabama municipalities:

• Cottondale: $89,299
• Vance: $42,926
• Duncanville: $38,495
• Moundville: $24,500
• Brookwood: $21,331
• Coker: $17,442
• Buhl: $14,825
• Fosters: $12,190
• McCalla: $11,370
• Ralph: $11,900
• Coaling: $8,727

The Tuscaloosa County Commission is also considering the contract with Horne LLC as the administrator of the online application portal for the second round of funding. Howell said this move would be a prudent one, due to the risk of transferring applicants from one vendor to another undoubtedly increasing the potential for duplication of benefits.

He then went on to encourage those needing assistance to apply while the money is still available.

This can be done online at TUSCO.com or by phone, with the only requirement being that the phone have photo capabilities, so pictures of necessary documents can be submitted.

Click here to apply to the Tuscaloosa County Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

"There is an informational webinar on the website that explains the process before they apply, so they know what to expect," Howell said.

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com