By Amy Yee, Photo: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg, Bloomberg CityLab, March 22, 2022
When Covid-19 hit in 2020, the U.S. Congress allocated $46.5 million to help struggling low-income renters stay in their homes during the pandemic. The federal Emergency Rental Assistance program was designed to be a lifeline for those who fell behind on payments as work and income streams were disrupted. But most states were initially slow to disburse the funds — to the frustration of tenants, landlords and housing advocacy groups.
After that sluggish start, there are now signs of significant progress. More than 4.3 million payments worth $20.5 billion were allocated to households nationwide through Jan. 31, the U.S. Treasury reported this month. The aid, while late, likely played a significant role in preventing hundreds of thousands of evictions, according to a new Eviction Lab analysis.
Each state set its own ERA guidelines, but typically households with 80% of area median income or less were eligible for about 12 months of rent. Nearly two-thirds of ERA beneficiaries last year had extremely low incomes — families who make less than a third of the median income in their area. About 40% of tenants were Black and 20% were Hispanic, according to Treasury data through Dec. 31.
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