Most rental assistance still not gone out.
BOSTON (AP) — States and localities have only distributed 11% of the tens of billions of dollars in federal rental assistance, the Treasury Department said Wednesday, the latest sign the program is struggling to reach the millions of tenants at risk of eviction.
The latest data shows that the pace of distribution increased in July over June and that nearly a million households have been helped.
But with the Supreme Court considering a challenge to the federal eviction moratorium, the concern is that a wave of evictions will happen before much of the assistance has been distributed. Some 3.5 million people in the U.S. as of Aug. 16 said they face eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey.
Lawmakers approved $46.5 billion in rental assistance earlier this year and most states are distributing the first tranche of $25 billion. According to the
Treasury Department, $5.1 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance has been distributed by states and localities through July, up from $3 billion at the end of June and only $1.5 billion by May 31.
Several states, including Virginia and Texas, have been praised for moving quickly to get the federal money out. But many others have still only distributed a small percentage of the rental help.
Housing advocates blame the slow rollout partly on the Treasury Department under President Donald Trump, which they say was slow to explain how the money could be spent. The criteria, while clearer under the Biden administration, was still criticized for a burdensome process that seemed more focused on preventing fraud than helping tenants.
Advocates also said states made things worse — some waited months to set up programs and others created bureaucratic hurdles.
Efforts to use coronavirus relief money for rental assistance last year faced similar challenges.
"Nearly 1 million households assisted is meaningful progress, but the overall rate of spending emergency rental assistance remains much too slow," said Diane Yentel, CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
"Some communities are spending the money quickly and well, proving that it's possible and making the many communities who aren't all the more glaring and unacceptable" she said.