Flex Fund

General Requests 

The categories in this section outline request types available to neighbors who meet the criteria for Flex Fund assistance. Required documentation is listed under each specific request type. 

Application Fee

• Invoice

Security Deposit

• Invoice
• Proof of base rent amount

Admin Fee

• Invoice

Risk Fee

• Invoice

Utility Deposit/Settlement Letters

• Invoice

Rental Arrears (back-pay rent)

*Rental arrears refer to prior balances that create barriers to housing access. Please note: This does not include unpaid rent accrued while residing in a unit.

• Invoice

Government/State ID/DL

• Receipt/screenshot to verify amount paid by the agency 

• NOTE: Housing Forward is no longer able to process online payments for Government and State IDs and/or Birth Certificates due to security questions that must be answered on behalf of the neighbor. Housing Forward can reimburse agencies for the cost of IDs and Birth Certificates via Agency Reimbursement ONLY. 

Birth Certificate

• Receipt/screenshot to verify amount paid by the agency

• NOTE: Housing Forward is no longer able to process online payments for Government and State IDs and/or Birth Certificates due to security questions that must be answered on behalf of the neighbor. Housing Forward can reimburse agencies for the cost of IDs and Birth Certificates via Agency Reimbursement ONLY. 

Furniture

• Signed lease required

Renter’s Insurance

• Invoice

Move-In Kits

• Signed lease required

Landlord Incentives

• Invoice

Landlord incentives can include: 

• New Owner Lease Signing Bonus: One-time payment of up to $750 for new landlords/owners who agree to participate in the program and has not rented to a program participant in the past 12 months. 

• Move-in Fees: Direct payments to accelerate the lease-up process. This removes barriers to lease signing to include risk mitigation payments directly to landlords or increased security deposits.  

• • This includes: 

• Risk Mitigation 

• Application 

• Admin 

• Deposits 

• Past debt to landlords 

• Utility deposits 

There are four requirements for a neighbor to be eligible to receive Flex Fund assistance: 

1. Neighbor has a current active enrollment in HMIS.
   • NOTE: Survivors of domestic violence aren’t required to be in HMIS. However, the agency must be a CoC member.
2. Neighbor is actively receiving services from a provider.
3. The agency providing services and submitting the flex fund request is a member of the CoC.
4. The request ends (or makes progress in ending) the neighbor’s homelessness.

Neighbors are eligible for up to $1,800 per year in assistance. See “What if my request is over the maximum allowable amount per neighbor” for more information.

There are three payment options available under the “Form of Payment” section of the form: 

1. Paper check delivered by the United States Postal Service.
   •  
   • A Housing Forward team member will contact you when the check has been mailed.
2. Electronic Funds Transfer
   • Housing Forward makes online payments to vendors only after they’ve been added to our system. Complete our vendor contact information form HERE.
3. Agency Reimbursement
   • This option requires prior approval and is available when a neighbor needs a quicker turnaround than a typical payment can provide. For more information, see “Can I be reimbursed for a neighbor’s expense using Flex Fund assistance?” 

Yes, agency reimbursement is an option for payment. However, there are guidelines around this payment type. 

• Agency reimbursements must be submitted within 90 days of the date the expense incurred. Submissions outside of this window will be denied.
• Agency reimbursement requires prior approval by Housing Forward. If you need to submit an agency reimbursement, please select “Agency Reimbursement” as the “Form of Payment” when completing your Flex Fund request.
• Invoices will still be needed.
• For agency reimbursement, the agency is the payee. The W-9 will be specific to the agency requesting reimbursement. 
• Requests should be submitted as soon as possible to allow for processing time. Please allow as much time as possible for processing by submitting your request as soon as you’re able, as a typical agency reimbursement will take 2 to 3 business days to process.
• Housing Forward will send an approval email, after which a receipt of payment and/or canceled check from the agency will be required before a check is approved for reimbursement. 

A typical Flex Fund request takes 3 to 5 business days to approve and process. Please allow as much time as possible for processing by submitting your request as soon as you’re able, agency reimbursement may take 2 to 3 business days to process. 

In cases where a neighbor requires immediate payment, agencies may meet the need directly and subsequently seek reimbursement through the Flex Fund. For more information, please see “Can I be reimbursed for a neighbor’s expense using Flex Fund assistance?” 

In most cases, the neighbor’s service provider will submit the request. 

To understand who’s eligible to receive Flex Fund assistance, please see “What’s the criteria for a neighbor to be eligible for Flex Fund assistance?” 

Housing Forward will review these requests on a case-by-case basis and approve or deny them as necessary.  

No, not at this time. For reporting and processing purposes, please submit each request individually.  

If you’ve requested a paper check, you will be able to select if you want the check mailed or if you want to pick it up. A Housing Forward staff member will reach out to you when the check is ready to be picked up.

Good question! A payee is a person to whom money is paid or is to be paid. For example, if ABC Apartments is the one the check needs to go to, ABC Apartments is the payee. 

Remember, if you’re requesting an agency reimbursement, the payee will be your agency

Good question! A W-9 is a tax form that provides us with the correct Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) for the payee. We need this information on record any time we process a payment to a third-party or outside vendor. 
 
An example of a W-9 can be found here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf 

The payee should be able to provide you (or your neighbor) with an invoice. The amount on the invoice should reflect the amount being requested.