Help finally on the way for N.J. renters as state announces new $353M relief fund Updated Mar 18, 2021; A highly anticipated and desperately needed $353 million rental relief fund will open up to New Jersey renters who haven’t been able to make payments over the last year after the coronavirus pandemic upended their lives. The fund will open for applications on March 22 at 9 a.m. on the Department of Community Affairs website. The program is not first come, first serve, and will remain open until “an adequate number of people have submitted their applications,” said Lt. Gov. Shiela Oliver at the press conference in Union City Tuesday afternoon.