Georgia outlines plans to improve slow pace of rental help

State risks losing some of the $550M it was allocated.

Georgia officials struggling to distribute federal funds to prevent evictions have outlined plans to increase the speed at which they get the money to landlords and renters.

The improvement plans were submitted last week to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. If they are not approved, the state risks los- ing some of the $550 million it was allocated in a first round of federal rental aid.

State officials overseeing the rental disbursements are developing a tool to easily check whether renters already got help and turning to colleges and universities for workers on evenings and weekends, Patrick Farr, director of the state Office of Planning & Budget, said in the improvement plan dated Nov. 15.

They are also expanding efforts to raise awareness about the funding.

“The (assistance) program understands the urgency of providing rental and utility assistance to tenants, landlords and utility providers as quickly as possible through- out the state,” Farr said.

Georgia is under pressure to improve its distribution of rental assistance.

By mid-November, less than 10 percent of the $550 million had gone out to help state residents struggling with rent or utility payments during the pandemic. The money is part of $46.5 billion in rental assistance that Congress approved for U.S. communities, including another $437 million for Georgia.

Nationally, more than $10 billion had gone out through Sept. 30, with the pace of spending picking up through the summer, according to the Treasury department. Officials credit that money with helping avert a wave of evictions after the U.S. Supreme Court in late August allowed evictions to resume.

But treasury officials could claw back some of the money from slower places such as Georgia and reallocate it to jurisdictions that have gotten it out to tenants and landlords faster. More than 30 states could be at risk of losing funds, according to a report this month by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

But the report singled out Georgia, Ohio, Arizona and Tennessee for their slow disbursement of aid and large populations of renters.