The Biden Administration Is Greasing Its Wheels Struggling Federal Rent Assistance Program, but there are many tenants still being abandoned.
emergency rental assistance program was born out of the Covid relief bill that Congress passed in December to help low- and middle-income families with their rents and utilities. In the early months of the program, the flow of money was slow; Federal data shows the pace of emergency rental assistance offered to tenants has increased in recent months. However, experts said, tenants are facing major hurdles, including technology bottlenecks, complicated regulations in different states and cities, long waiting times and cumbersome processes.
Last month, $2.8 billion was distributed to tenants, up from $2.3 billion in August. However, since January, only $10 billion of the roughly $47 billion Congress has gone into tenants’ pockets. treasury data.
after the Supreme Court federal eviction moratorium killed In August, the level of protection for renters who cannot pay rent varies from state to state. There is little data on the scope of evictions, but it has been tracked in six states and 31 cities. eviction lab At Princeton University, landlords have applied for more than 561,000 evictions since mid-March 2020.
The most recent federal Census Pulse survey data also suggests that nearly three million households have expressed concern about impending evictions, with low-income households most at risk.
The Treasury Department, which oversees the rental assistance program, cited Eviction Lab data in a statement Monday, saying “there has been no major national increase in evictions following the federal moratorium, with eviction filing balances below the historical average.” Is.” “That said, every unnecessary removal is one too many, which is why the Treasury is doing everything possible to ensure that aid is reaching those who need it most.”
The Treasury Department has tried to expedite payments by warning local officials that it will begin withdrawing excess money from states that lag behind distributing payments and passing them to “high-performing” states. While the agency has given some leeway to failed programs – allowing them to submit plans to improve and save their money – tenants are running into bottlenecks, even in places that do well. are doing.
For example, Oregon has paid or obliged 83 percent of its money, As per the data provided by the state. But Kim McCarty, executive director of the Community Alliance of Tenants, an Oregon-based advocacy group, said tens of thousands of renters in the state are still at risk of eviction. One of the issues is that the state program didn’t start accepting applications until June, even though funding has been available since January, according to treasury data.
“The picture for tenants is terrible,” McCarty said. “While we know that Oregon has millions of dollars to distribute emergency rental assistance … the truth is that the courts are open and evictions are happening.” She estimated that 27,000 homes are at risk of eviction.
The Treasury Department issued notices in June and August encouraging jurisdictions to loosen their guidelines and streamline payments. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Ademo acknowledged the problem in August.
“While the Treasury has repeatedly published clear guidance that discourages undue document burdens that limit access for eligible families, we continue to hear about programs that will not accept self-verification, and Others that are adding documentation requirements that Treasury does not require,” he said. a statement.
Oregon’s program administrator did not respond to a request for comment.
Last year, Amber Cook lost her job as a tax preparer because of the pandemic and turned to rental assistance to pay her bills after unemployment benefits ran out. Cook, 53, of Portland, who is also a local tenant organizer, said cumbersome paperwork delayed his payments and took him nearly four months to receive the housing assistance he requested. She said the tedious application process makes her worry about what the next several months could mean for safe and secure housing.
Diane Yantel, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a tenant rights organization that also tracks payments to homes, said, “It’s tenants who live in states that have no protection against evictions and where emergency rentals are needed.” Aid is coming very slowly to where they are most vulnerable to potentially losing their homes before emergency rent is met.”
The agency defines success as using at least 65 percent of rental assistance funds, while programs with the highest risk are those that have disbursed less than 30 percent of their available funding. Yantel’s group estimates that funding for 40 percent of programs nationwide could be forfeited.
Under those rules, Arizona could be one of the programs on the chopping block. The state spent about $28 million of the more than $300 million allocated to Congress, according to State and Treasury data.
Tasya Peterson, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Economic Security, or DES, who oversees the program, said in a statement that the state is confident it will be able to meet the needs of renters seeking assistance.
“DES knew at the outset that its allocation would be more than necessary to serve this population,” she said. “We continue to work with the U.S. Treasury and all jurisdictions operating their own programs to ensure there are no barriers to payments for eligible families.”
Greg Brown, senior vice president of the 93,000-member National Apartment Association that represents landlords, said the group has focused on lobbying for reforms, such as letting landlords start the application process, rather than having to wait for reluctant tenants.
“Just because your program isn’t working doesn’t mean there aren’t people who need help. There are millions of people who need this help, and we do everything we can to make them whole.” Well, we have to.” he said.