FAQs 

 

1. Who has the City of Indianapolis (“the City”) identified to benefit from this grant?

 

This $11 million program will benefit for-profit bars, taverns, restaurants, and live entertainment venues that are subject to and paid in fiscal year 2020 Marion County, Indiana Food and Beverage (“FAB”) taxes, with at least one owner living in Indiana/parent company or restaurant group has a Marion County business registration address with the Indiana Secretary of State.

 

2. Who will submit the application for this grant? 

 

Like the City’s rental assistance program for residents, this grant also seeks to engage Property Owners in the application process by having them co-sign the application. 

 

Business-owner Tenants will submit the application, but a Property Owner Agreement Letter, available on our site, must accompany that application and have been completed and e-signed by the property owner who collects rent, lease or mortgage payments.

 

**Note: After a Property Owner completes and submits that online Property Owner Agreement Letter, he/she will receive a confirmation email along with a .pdf version of that completed form. PLEASE CHECK your Junk/Spam email boxes for that email, which you will forward to your Tenant for uploading with the Grant Application.

 

3. Property Owner and Business Owner/Tenant disagree on the amount of rent/mortgage due and qualifying under the terms of this HELP Grant.  How to resolve that?

 

Both parties must agree in order to apply. If the two parties submit DIFFERENT rent/mortgage amount requests, the application will be deemed INCORRECT and declined summarily.  Business Owner/Tenant will be informed, and the parties must start the process over anew. 

 

4. Can a property management firm, under contract with a Property Owner to manage a HELP Grant qualified business property, sign off on the Property Owner Agreement letter and submit the requisite ID (Driver’s License)?

 

Yes, a property management firm/group can sign the Property Owner Agreement letter on behalf of a Property Owner. 

 

Property management groups doing so must provide/upload the contract with Property Owner under the "proof of ownership" requirement to establish (1) authority to sign, and (b) Property Owner’s proof of ownership of business property. An authorized representative from a property management group will provide his/her Driver’s License as part of our required documents upload.

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5. What is the timeframe for this grant program?

• Applications open on October 14, 2020 at https://www.response.indychamber.com/helpgrants

• Applications close on November 6, 2020, or earlier if the available funds are depleted.

• Payments out to Property Owners are to be completed mid-December, 2020.

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6. What is the “Grant Period”?

“Grant Period” means the period of time from April 1, 2020 until December 31, 2020. 

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7. Is there a cap/maximum award on this grant?

 

YES. Businesses may apply for an award of rent/lease/mortgage payments for up to 9 months of 2020 (April 1 through December 31, 2020), up to a maximum award of $25,000, subject to limitations outlined below.

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8. I am behind on rent. Can I still apply for this program?

 

Yes!  This grant is available to pay both back rent due since April 1 (excluding interest, late fees or other add-ons) and current rents due for October, November and December 2020.

 

PLEASE NOTE: Back-logged interest, fees and other costs applied by a Property Owner CANNOT be paid with this Grant.  Only unpaid rent/mortgage, as identified in your lease or mortgage document, will be awarded for the months of April through September (inclusive), 2020.

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9. Do I need to pay rent for October, November or December while waiting for decision and/or payment to my Property Owner? 

 

Yes, you still need to pay rent due if you have not yet been approved for this grant. Please discuss with your Property Owner. 

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10. I’ve paid October rent already.  Will this grant program still benefit me?

 

Yes!  You can receive an award of rental payments up to $25,000, based on your lease/rental contract, which funds will be paid to your Property Owner for rent you were contracted to pay per your lease/mortgage for October, November and December 2020. 

 

If you have already paid October, November and/or December 2020 rent/mortgage, and you qualify for a HELP Grant award, Property Owner can credit what you’ve paid forward into 2021, because Property Owner will receive HELP Grant award monies to pay for October, November and December.  

 

Property Owners will sign a Certification to that effect (crediting your already-received payments for October, November and/or December toward 2021 rent/mortgage due).

 

If a lease ends in 2020 and a Property Owner receives this grant after Tenant has already paid any of the rents due for the last three months of 2020 (October, for example), then Property Owner will have a duplicate payment (for October, in this example) that he/she cannot credit in 2021 and should refund the tenant’s already-paid rent when the HELP grant award is received.

 

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11. What if my lease expires before December 31, 2020?

 

If your lease ends before December 31, 2020, you and your Property Owner will report a pro rata amount or $0 due for the weeks/months that you are not obligated by a lease or mortgage.

 

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12. As Property Owner, I rent/lease to a business with multiple locations. Can they apply for all?

 

Yes! Each grant award is provided for rent relief per lease/rental agreement, so businesses may apply once for every business address they operate as long as each address is subject to a unique rental/lease agreement with corresponding payments.

 

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13. Are there any conditions on the Business Owner under this grant?

 

Business owners must agree to maintain business operations at the same location for the “Grant Period”, in accordance with local public health orders.

 

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14. What are the Business Owner eligibility requirements for this grant? 

 

All of the following must be true for a business in order to apply for this program:

1. Be a private, for-profit independently operated business located within Marion County, Indiana, with at least one owner residing in Indiana or the parent company/restaurant group has a Marion County business registration address.

2. Business must be an independently operated restaurant, bar, or live entertainment venue that is subject to and paid the Marion County, Indiana’s Food and Beverage tax in fiscal year ending July 1, 2020.

3. Business must have been in operation on February 15, 2020 (pre-pandemic).

4. Business was forced to shut down and operate at reduced capacity as a result of the City’s re-opening guidelines.

5. Business sales revenue must have been negatively impacted by at least 10% as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Reopening (Indiana Governor’s “Back on Track”) Guidelines 

 

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15. What are the Required Documents for this application? 

 

All of the following documents are required in order to apply: 

​Tenant must provide:

• Secretary of State Registration, Articles of Organization/Incorporation, Bank Statement, or other Book of Record showing proof of being in business on February 15, 2020

• Most recent Business Entity Report from the Indiana Secretary of State

• A completed Property Owner's Agreement Letter 

• A copy of your current Lease Agreement

• A copy of the front and back of driver's license or government issued ID. This must belong to the business’s authorized Signor on the application.

• Proof of payment (bank statement, front and back of cancelled [cleared or processed] check, credit card statement or letter from Property Owner showing $0 for that month) of most recently-paid full rent/mortgage payment (EXCLUDING fees, fines, add-ons of any type), for verification purposes of the amount noted in your lease/rental agreement.

 

Property Owner must provide:​

• A mortgage statement, assessor property card, or other document proving ownership of the participating property. Must include business entity name and address of property.

• A copy of the front and back of driver's license or government-issued ID. This must belong to the authorized representative of the Property Owner filling out the Agreement Letter. ​

• Voided check (or bank letter) for ACH Agreement

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16. How does the application review process work?

 

Applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. You will be contacted in case your application is missing any information. Indy Chamber will review and decide upon grant applications by December 15, 2020 or the date on which available grant funding is depleted by awards.

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17. How does the AWARD & FUNDING process work?

 

Once approved, the Property Owner and Tenant will receive an official Award Letter to be electronically signed by both parties. The grant funds will be electronically deposited into the Property Owner's provided and confirmed bank account. 

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18. What Certifications will Business Owner Applicants affirm in the Application?

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• The applicant is a private for-profit business, operating prior to and on February 15, 2020.

• The business location (the subject of this application) is located in Marion County, Indiana.

• The applicant paid food and beverage taxes during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020.

• The applicant’s business at the Applicant Location has been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a drop in sales revenue of at least ten percent (10%) since March 16, 2020.

• The applicant will continue to operate its business during the Grant Period.

• This application is the only application submitted by the applicant or any of the applicant’s affiliates for the Applicant Location. 

• The applicant will not submit any future applications for the Applicant Location unless the program guidelines are changed to expressly allow multiple applications.

• The applicant has not requested reimbursement for the costs to which the grant will apply under any other federal, state or local government or foundation program, including but not limited to, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.

• The applicant is not engaged in any activity that is illegal under federal, state or local law.

• Applicant will provide additional information to substantiate the certifications if asked to do so.

• Applicant understands that making a false statement or material omission to obtain a grant under this grant program is punishable under the law, which may include I.C. § 35-43-5-3(a)(2), punishable by imprisonment of up to 1 year and a fine up to $5,000; I.C. § 35-44.1-2-1, punishable by imprisonment between 6 months and 2 years and a fine up to $10,000; and/or I.C. § 35-43-5-8, punishable by imprisonment between 1 and 6 years, and a fine up to $10,000.

 

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19. What Certifications will Property Owners affirm in the Application?

 

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• Property Owner will accept this grant as payment for rent obligations during the Grant Period.

• Property Owner will suspend and not enforce any defaults by the applicant during the Grant Period of April 1, 2020 through December 30, 2020.

• If receiving payment for back-rent, Property Owner will waive all interest, fines, and fees on past due unpaid rent dating back to April 1, 2020. 

• Property Owner agrees that if rent is received from the tenant between October 1, 2020 through December 30, 2020, that is not derived from HELP Grant funds, the rent will be applied prorated to January, February, and/or March of 2021 or will be returned to tenant if the lease expires on or before March 30, 2021.

• The authorized representative executing on behalf of the property owner has all requisite power and authority to do so, to accept the grant funds in lieu as rent for the Applicant Location and to agree to suspend, waive and not enforce defaults as described above.

• The property owner is not engaged in any activity that is illegal under federal, state or local law.

• Property Owner understands that making a false statement or material omission to obtain a grant under this grant program is punishable under the law, which may include I.C. § 35-43-5-3(a)(2), punishable by imprisonment of up to 1 year and a fine up to $5,000; I.C. § 35-44.1-2-1, punishable by imprisonment between 6 months and 2 years and a fine up to $10,000; and/or I.C. § 35-43-5-8, punishable by imprisonment between 1 and 6 years, and a fine up to $10,000.

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If you question has not been answered by the above FAQS, please email helpgrants@indychamber.com