Texas Rent Relief Program website crashes shortly after reopening

Houston – The Texas Rent Relief Program portal opened on Tuesday morning, and as expected, a lot of people rushed to the site. A large influx of visitors caused the site to crash shortly after reopening.

FOX 26 received a lot of calls about the site being down.

The portal is scheduled to be open for two weeks, but the program says they will serve people on a first come, first served basis.

RELATED: Texas Rent Relief Reopens App Portal March 14th for $96M

In a statement Tuesday morning, the Texas Department of Housing and Public Affairs said:

“We understand that some people are unable to access or launch a new application or are experiencing download delays. Our team is working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. We ask people if they cannot access the application system at this time to check back during the day and try again using the “Apply” button (for new applicants).

We also know that the customer service line is facing some issues due to the extremely high volume of calls. We ask for your patience and encourage all applicants to review our Frequently Asked Questions and Tenant Checklist which can help answer questions about applying.
For those with access to the app (we had over 4,000 applications in the first 45 minutes of opening the portal), please “save” your progress frequently and use the tenant checklist to ensure you submit a complete application with all necessary documents.”

The program helps those who are approved, trying to pay rent or utility bills, and pay off overdue bills. Since February 2021, Texas Rent Relief has helped more than 316,000 households, providing over $2 billion in assistance and preventing 21,000 evictions.

The opening of the portal on Tuesday was to release the remaining $96 million.

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The Texas Department of Housing and Public Affairs says that first-time applicants may be eligible for up to 18 months of rent and/or utility bill assistance on delinquent bills, and up to three months of future payments, to be made directly to landlords or utilities.

Returning applicants who have not yet received the maximum 18-month rent or utility payments may apply for additional funding through their online account.