Going From Complier to Customer: RRP Improvements Rundown
By Tommy Herbert
VAMA members have been the most frequent users of the Virginia Rent Relief Program over the course of the last sixteen months. It has come a long way from the beginning to become a template for the nation in getting relief funds from the federal government distributed. Now the RRP is going to be administered by a private entity, Virginia Interactive, which is itself a subsidiary of Tyler Technologies, a large corporation out of Texas. They have worked with the Commonwealth of Virginia on payment processing for over 23 years. Here we will discuss some of the few specifics that we have so far about that transition.
As a reminder, after November 30, Gov2Go (Virginia Interactive’s app) will be the only process that RRP applications may be initiated through, as Virginia Housing and Deval work to resolve all processing applications by December 30, 2021. Any applications still in process at that time will migrate over to Gov2Go at that time. The vast majority of data from the old system will migrate automatically to the new system. Housing providers will only be required to re-enter bank account and routing numbers, which cannot be migrated between systems for legal reasons.
There will be one single new portal for both housing providers and renters run through the Gov2Go app, available on the Google Play and Apple stores. There will also be a website access, and housing providers will have a dedicated team of specialists at the company to specifically work issues on the landlord side of the application. This portal will have greater flexibility to change to respond to problems being faced by stakeholders in the field. VAMA is working currently to get a virtual member event together to field questions and connect members with the team at Gov2Go.
In-app messaging will provide notifications and reminders to both stakeholders in the process, and housing providers will be able to track the progress of applications. We know that the most common unsuccessful scenario that we face as housing providers and applicants to the RRP is that of a resident who does not cooperate with our requests for their information to complete the application. In the Gov2Go system, there will be built-in notifications in the app or on the website for residents to remind them to enter their information and complete the application. This will make a big difference, as residents who don’t cooperate often claim not to have known they needed to participate in some way, which will be much less likely in the new system.
Gov2Go will be moving away from the practice of document uploads toward the use of digital attestations. This is going to make a huge difference in cutting out the most time-consuming parts of the process and getting housing providers through their portion of the process in a matter of minutes. This means that residents who are cooperating with our applications will be moving quickly through the process and getting the rent relief that they need.