COVID-19 Business Updates

Below are updates from our partners. We will continue sending COVID-19 updates as they are received and the information is verified.

More COVID-19 tools and resources can be found on our website .

Bar Seating During Phase 2

Below are Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services guidelines we received from the Montana Retail Association for bar seating during phase 2, effective June 5, 2020.

Click here to view the PDF.

The Montana Business Adaptation Program

The state has opened a new round of grants for businesses to help defray the costs of adaptation to operating in the virus era. The Montana Business Adaptation Program provides reimbursement for COVID-19 expenses related to keeping staff and businesses safe – from the purchase of personal protective equipment to resources needed for staff to work remotely. Eligible small businesses must be Montana-based, have incurred eligible adaptation expenses since Feb. 15 due to COVID-19, and be in good standing. Total funding available is $20 million, the maximum reimbursement amount per business is $5,000. Eligible costs include communications tools, remote work equipment, business adaptations required to allow for better cleaning and social distancing, cleaning supplies, and travel/hotel costs related to quarantining workers. A comprehensive information resource and application portal is available at COVIDRELIEF.MT.GOV .

Emergency Housing Assistance

Below is information received from the Montana Department of Commerce.

Since the Emergency Housing Assistance program was launched, state employees have been working hard to review applications that will help Montanans stay in their homes.

When an applicant fills out the online Submittable form for assistance, they are asked to enter the email of their mortgage servicing company or landlord. The application system then sends a notification to that email address with a request for information that must be completed for the applicant to receive assistance.

The W-9/EFT electronic form email will be sent from [email protected]. The email subject will indicate that [renter or borrower name] is requesting supporting information for State of Montana. Your renter/borrower is instructed to provide a personal message with their details (i.e. address and loan number) to ensure the mortgage servicer or landlord has sufficient information needed to complete the form. A button to “complete request” will open the W-9/EFT form.

The Submittable platform works well with the Firefox or Chrome browsers. You can download Firefox by following the instructions here. You can download Chrome by following the instructions here.

Submittable does not support the Explorer browser or older versions of Edge.

Mortgage servicers and landlords can contact Submittable customer support for technical assistance at [email protected].

Based on feedback received from landlords, we have simplified the Landlord Verification and Certification form. The updated version is available here .

We are asking all of the mortgage servicing companies and landlords to please fill in the information requested from the Emergency Housing Assistance program via [email protected] as soon as you can. This will help your customers stay in their homes and make due payments to you.

Montana Housing’s Emergency Housing Assistance program provides rent, security deposit, mortgage payment, and/ or hazard insurance assistance as-needed for Montanans who have lost a job or substantial income loss as a result of COVID-19.

If you have any questions about the program call us at 406.841.2840 or email us at https://housing.mt.gov/Contact .