The Dane County CORE Rental Assistance Program operates using a pre-application process for tenants and landlords. This page provides an overview of the process from the start of a pre-application through payment processing. If you have questions about your pre-application, please contact us by replying to the email notification you received during the process.
Step #0: Pre-Applications from Tenants and Landlords
To begin, the tenant and the landlord must submit pre-applications using our online system found under "Apply Today" on this website. In order to expedite processing and notify both parties of the pre-application process, please include your tenant or landlord's email address on your pre-application. This will automatically send an email to the other party notifying them that you've completed your portion of the pre-application.
This step in the pre-application process requires tenants to upload income documentation and landlords to upload tax and lease documentation. For more information on the documentation requirements for this program, click Documents above.
Step #1: Review of Pre-Applications
Once pre-applications are submitted, the Tenant Resource Center will review the pre-application to ensure that the required documents have been included and to validate eligibility under the program. Below is a brief description of the items reviewed during this step in the process:
Tenant Pre-Application Review
Verify:
- Household has experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or has experienced economic hardship due to COVID-19
- Household Income does not exceed 80% of Area Median Income (see our Eligibility Page for more details)
- Tenant has electronically signed their pre-application form
- Pre-application is for back-owed rents; not future rent or utilities
- Rental unit is in Dane County or the City of Madison
- Verify income documents meet federal requirements and are for all adult household members over the age of 18.
- Verify that household income documents are for all adults in the household AND match the amount reported in the pre-application
- Check for eviction history (this is a prioritization factor)
If all of the above is completed and correct, the tenant's pre-application is eligible to be connected to the landlord's pre-application. If not, the tenant will receive an email notification detailing what items need to be corrected in order to proceed.
Landlord Pre-Application Review
Verify:
- Rent ledger is correct for the time period and the tenant(s) listed in the pre-application
- Confirm the back-owed balance is from rents after 3/12/2020 (the start of the pandemic)
- Confirm a signed IRS Form W9 has been attached for the entity receiving the payment
- Confirm a signed lease has been attached (or that a signed certification of a verbal rental agreement exists)
- Confirm that the unit is in Dane County or the City of Madison
- Address owner information matches IRS Form W9 (payments to property management companies are also eligible)
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institution's filings match IRS Form W9 (where applicable)
- Verify whether the property owner or property management company is local to Dane County (this is a prioritization factor)
- Confirm the landlord or authorized representative has signed the pre-application
If all of the above is completed and correct, the landlord's pre-application is eligible to be connected to the tenant's pre-application. If not, the landlord will receive an email notification detailing what items need to be corrected in order to proceed.
Step #2: Joint Application Review
Once both the tenant and landlord pre-application have been reviewed in Step #1 above, the pre-applications are connected to form the application for assistance under CORE. In this process, the Tenant Resource Center then reviews the application to verify the items above and the following items:
- Tenant and Landlord pre-applications match for the unit address
- Verify back-owed balance from documents provided is for rents after 3/12/2020 (the start of the pandemic)
- Application contains all necessary documents for both the Tenant and the Landlord
- Both Tenant and Landlord have signed the application materials
If all of the above is completed and correct, both the tenant and the landlord will receive an email notification confirming that the application has been reviewed and is ready to move on to the final steps. If not, the tenant and/or landlord will receive an email notification detailing what items need to be corrected in order to proceed.
Step #3: Finance Review
Once the above steps have been completed, the application moves on to the final step of review for the following items before payment processing:
- Confirm that the calculated payment amount does not exceed the eligible amount under the program (including previous payments under CORE; if applicable)
- Confirm the funding source for the application (the City of Madison and Dane County have both provided funds for this program)
- Verify that payment details are correct
Once the items above have been reviewed, the payment moves on to payment processing. In the event that issues are discovered during this process, the tenant and/or landlord will receive an email notification detailing what items need to be corrected in order to proceed.
Step #4: Payment Processing
From here, the application moves on to payment processing under the Tenant Resource Center's processes. CORE applications are paid on a weekly basis with payments mailed within 24 hours of issuance. Once payment has been issued, both the Tenant and Landlord receive an email confirming the payment amount, the check number, and the date mailed.
Payments are issued to the landlord on behalf of the tenant and will include the tenant's name on the check.
Please note: Mail processing is still experiencing unexpected delays due to COVID-19. The Tenant Resource Center provides the date mailed only to signal that we've placed the payment in the mail, but cannot guarantee the timing of delivery due to US Postal Service delays. Please allow up to two weeks for delivery after the date mailed. If you still haven't received payment after this point, please reply to the email confirmation for the payment to make arrangements with our Finance Staff for reissued payments.