Though thousands of Seattle renters have been displaced by apartment-to-condominium conversions, a chunk of money the city set aside to help them with cost of relocation has barely been touched.

At the time this paper went to press, just one person was about to be confirmed eligible for $500 from a $25,000 fund the Seattle City Council made available since early March.

Mike Buckman, a spokesperson for Solid Ground, a Fremont-based human services agency handling assistance applications, said there are still an unknown number of people that have gone without the extra help because the bulk of the conversions happened before aid was available.

"The mistake from our perspective is that the money came too late," Buckman said. "Two years ago, this money would have flown out of here before we had a chance to breathe."

But the market had already shifted largely away from conversions. There have been more than 4,500 conversions in the past three years, and just 203 so far this year, according to Department of Planning and Development Director Diane Sugimura.

The aid comes out of $350,000 the council originally designated in the 2008 budget, recognizing the $500 developers are required by state law to pay displaced tenants to aid in the search for housing just isn't enough. Mayor Greg Nickels put a temporary hold on most of that money to determine if the funds would be needed to supplement a loss of about $600,000 in federal funding.

Buckman said few people have applied and most weren't even eligible, either because their income was too high or they hadn't yet secured next housing, which is required before any aid can be issued. Up to $2,800 per applicant is still available for those earning 80 percent or below area median income.

Part of the problem has been finding the backlog of displaced renters to supply the funds to. The money was available in March, but renters who left their homes due to conversion as far back as Sept. 1 can apply.

"That's where the outreach was difficult," said Buckman, noting that many didn't leave forwarding addresses with landlords that had essentially kicked them out.

"Frankly, I'm not sure how much outreach the city's doing on that backlogging either," he said.

Sarah Levin with the Human Services Department, the city office handling the funds, said outreach has been ongoing since the money became available.

Letters are being written to property owners who are currently converting and to request forwarding addresses for renters who have already left. Staffers at the city's 211 information line are being trained to screen for people who may be eligible, too, said Levin.

A spike of 139 conversions in May is leaving city officials wondering if developers are rushing to get permits in before a new state law takes effect, which gives cities the ability to set the amount of relocation assistance property owners are required to provide to up to three times a tenant's current monthly rent.

Levin said the city-provided assistance would be reevaluated in a few months, and based on need the money could be reallocated to other departments.

Conversions have been somewhat unpredictable so far this year. January saw 30 rentals converted, there were zero conversions in February, 34 in March, none in April and a jump to 139 already this month.

"This is really looking like it's hard to tell what's going on," said Sugimura. "It's still quite a bit less than the last couple of years, but the last couple of years were unusual, too, in terms of volume."

More than 250 Ballard rental units have been redeveloped into condos. The Lock Vista Apartments, a 191-unit complex, faced conversion last year, but residents and neighbors strongly opposed it.

The property owners backed off and a sale to The Northlake Group, a company that's converted more than 100 apartment units in Ballard already, fell through in February.

To apply for rental relocation assistance call Solid Ground at 694-6700, located at 1501 N. 45th St.