Texas leads U.S. in disbursal of rent relief

For Texas renters and landlords struggling amid the ongoing pandemic, rental relief can’t come quickly enough. And the state has now disbursed more than half of its available funds to residents across nearly all Texas counties, according to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

The state agency has paid out $755 million of its $1.3 billion in rental assistance as of this week, benefiting more than 124,000 households. About $40 million in funds have also been approved and are in the process of being paid out to applicants.

“The Texas Rent Relief program has cleared major hurdles, and our strong efforts at outreaching to all Texans have been effective, reaching 92% of Texas counties with relief funds,” TDHCA executive director Bobby Wilkinson said in a statement. “We’ve also partnered with other statewide agencies and organizations such as the Texas Apartment Association and Public Utilities Commission to share information about available assistance and outreach resources ...”

Roughly half of the overall funding remains to be distributed, and TDHCA said the most significant delay in getting funds to renters in need is missing documentation that’s required by federal rules. One-third of the applications currently in the review process are missing some form of documentation from the applicant, the agency says.

The housing agency ramped up its program over the first half of this year after Texas’ February winter storm and issues with contractors caused initial confusion and technical problems for renters and landlords.