Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs - Building Homes and Strengthening Communities

Texas Eviction Diversion Program (TEDP)

*Please note, as of November 5, 2021, the Texas Rent Relief Program is no longer accepting new applications for rental assistance, and as of January 13, 2022 has committed 99% of all total funds.*

Overview

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court of Texas, Texas Office of Court Administration, and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) formed a unique partnership to help eligible tenants stay in their homes and provide landlords with an alternative to eviction; the Texas Eviction Diversion Program (TEDP) is the first statewide eviction diversion program.

The TEDP uses a special court process that allows courts to put eviction lawsuits on hold and divert them to the TEDP. Both the tenant and the landlord must agree to participate and meet the program requirements. Lump sum payments are made to landlords in exchange for allowing tenants to remain in their homes, and diverted cases are dismissed and made confidential from public disclosure.

A successful pilot version of the program ran from October 2020 through February 2021. Feedback from participating tenants, landlords, sub recipients, and other organizations informed the development of the statewide TEDP that launched February 15, 2021. Find information related to both programs below.

Statewide Texas Eviction Diversion Program

The Texas Eviction Diversion Program (TEDP) Set-Aside of the Texas Rent Relief (TRR) Program helps Texas tenants stay in their homes and provides landlords an alternative to eviction. The statewide TEDP is funded through a set-aside of the Texas Rent Relief Program (texasrentrelief.com), which launched February 15, 2021, stopped accepting new applications for rental assistance as of November 5, 2021, and committed 99% of all total funds by January 13, 2022. Justices of the Peace referred applicants to apply for assistance through TDHCA at TexasRentRelief.com or 1-833-989-7368. This program and funding has helped stop over 21,000 evictions in Texas.

The TEDP may provide up to 15 months of rental and utility assistance for eligible tenants who are behind on their rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have been sued for eviction. Both the tenant and the landlord must agree to participate and meet the requirements described here (English PDF) (Spanish PDF).

  • If the rent is below the TRR Program maximum, assistance can be used to pay the contracted rent for all past due rent as far back as March 13, 2020 (up to 12 months), plus up to 3 months of current/future rent. An additional 3 months (not to exceed the total of 15 months) may be provided upon re-application if necessary to ensure housing stability and if funds are available.
  • The TEDP uses a special court process that allows courts to put eviction lawsuits on hold and divert them to the TEDP. Under the TEDP, lump sum payments are provided to landlords for past-due rent in exchange for allowing tenants to remain in their homes and covering court costs. Diverted cases will be dismissed and made confidential from public disclosure.

Eligibility

*Please note, as of November 5, 2021, the Texas Rent Relief Program is no longer accepting new applications for rental assistance, and as of January 13, 2022 has committed 99% of all total funds.*

Interested landlords and tenants may learn more about the statewide application process, eligibility, and required documentation through the resources below:

Community Services Block Grant CARES TEDP Pilot

The TEDP Pilot was funded through $3.3 million of CSBG CARES Discretionary funds. The pilot launched October 12, 2020 and most funds were committed by February 28, 2021. At eviction hearings, Justices of the Peace referred applicants to apply for assistance through the eight subrecipient organizations below. More than 380 households were served with up to six month’s rental assistance through the pilot program.

OrganizationCounties ServedAward Amount
Brazos Valley Community Action Program Brazos, Chambers and Montgomery $600,000
El Paso Community Action Program/Project Bravo El Paso $600,000
Gulf Coast Community Services Association Harris $600,000
Panhandle Regional Planning Commission Deaf Smith, Potter, and Randall $299,287
San Antonio, City of Bexar $600,000
Texas Neighborhood Services Erath, Parker, Palo Pinto and Wise $257,949
Texoma Council of Governments Fanin and Grayson $170,188
Community Action Corporation of South Texas Bee, Jim Wells, Kleberg, and San Patricio $239,736
Grand Total $3,367,160