Sign up with United Way of King County to see if you qualify for Rental Assistance

(SEATTLE)— United Way of King County is distributing rental assistance payments on behalf of King County, and residents now have another opportunity to register to receive rental payments. United Way is currently processing applications from its waiting list to disburse 12 months’ rent to households that qualify.

In May, King County officials placed United Way in charge of the county’s emergency rental assistance program. Since then, United Way has churned out about $1 million a week in rental assistance — the equivalent of about 85 households each receiving nine months of back rent and three months of future rent. 

Previously applications were processed from the County’s rental assistance tenant portal that closed in February in order to accommodate only those who could be served with remaining funds.

But thanks to recent additional funding, the County was able to process the names of everyone on its rental assistance portal. United Way’s waiting list—launched in March after the County’s portal closed on February 28.

That means if you’re not already on the waiting list, you need to log on to United Way’s Get Help With Rent page to sign up. Though being placed on the waiting list in no way guarantees rental assistance payments, it is the first step for consideration.

“We are working across nine other agencies to get the funds out in the community,” said Jake Janesch, United Way program manager for rental assistance and homeless prevention. 

“Each of the agencies is focused on providing case management to families. And United Way is doing both case management and also focusing on communication, payments and grievances."

That distribution will continue at least through May of 2023, thanks to additional County funding. Funds to households range from $8,000-$11,000, depending on family size, and rental assistance payments go directly to property owners.