PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine State Housing Authority has detected 408 fraudulent applications in a COVID-19 rent relief program that would've cost the state $6.4 million.
In Maine, the state housing authority oversees the federal rent relief money while community action agencies distribute the funds locally. More than 90 percent of the fraud was detected by the local agencies.
All told, the $6.4 million represents more than 3 percent of the $197.3 million in rent relief from MaineHousing, and the 408 fraudulent applications made up less than 1 percent of more than 49,000 applications, the Bangor Daily News reported.
The Emergency Rental Assistance funds came from two federal COVID-19 relief packages passed by Congress in December 2020 and March 2021. Until recently, recipients could qualify for up to 18 months of rental assistance.
The community agencies working with tenants look for the warning signs for fraudulent activity, MaineHousing spokesperson Scott Thistle said.
“There are red flags that we ask the community action agencies that are processing the applications to look for, including rent that is beyond what would be expected for an area,” he said.
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