If you need help paying the rent, a new lottery system for state aid opens to New Jersey tenants starting Monday. The online application is available for certain low-income renters through the Department of Community Affairs. Applicants are entered into a drawing to get on the waiting list. Applicants will be selected through one of four categories — family, elderly, disabled or homeless and each category has 1,000 slots. In total, 4,000 households will be selected.
To enter, you must be at least 18 years old and meet the income limit for the county in which you live. For example, in Morris County the income limit is less than $46,000 annually for a family of four. The enrollment period runs through July 25, but the need is so great that renters selected through the lottery could wait up to two years or longer to get those assistance vouchers.
