Asking Your Landlord to Stay In Housing Until Rent Relief Is Received

If you have unpaid rent, past due rent, or late rent and have applied or are planning to apply for rent relief, our Request to Stay in Housing Letter Generator may be able to help you avoid eviction and stay in your housing until rent relief is received.

• Is there a COVID-19 related reason you or someone in your house cannot work and are now facing eviction or a housing crisis?
• Have you lost income and have unpaid rent, past due rent, or late rent because of COVID-19 and facing eviction is making you or a family member’s mental health worse?
• Are you unable to work because you care for someone at high risk of COVID-19?
• Is losing income and facing eviction making you or a family member’s mental health worse?

If so, you can use our interactive tool to create a letter requesting a reasonable accommodation to stay in your housing until you receive rent relief. The letter can be sent to your landlord asking them to delay or not file an eviction so you can stay in your housing until you get rent relief. This could apply if you or someone in the house has lost a job because of COVID-19, lost income because of COVID-19, is unable to work because they care for someone at high risk of COVID-19, or if losing a job or income is making someone in the household’s mental health worse. This tool helps people use the protections of the Federal Fair Housing Act to ask for more time to pay rent.

To create your letter, use the Request to Stay in Housing Letter Generator.

Publication Code: HS19

www.DRTx.org
Statewide Intake: 1-800-252-9108
Sign Language Video Phone: 1-866-362-2851
Purple 2 Video Phone: 512-271-9391
Online Intake available 24/7: intake.DRTx.org

Disclaimer: Disability Rights Texas strives to update its materials on an annual basis, and this handout is based upon the law at the time it was written. The law changes frequently and is subject to various interpretations by different courts. Future changes in the law may make some information in this handout inaccurate.

The handout is not intended to and does not replace an attorney’s advice or assistance based on your particular situation.

To request this handout in ASL, Braille, or as an audio file, contact us.