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The
Treasury said on Wednesday the $46.6 billion program aimed at
preventing evictions has disbursed or obligated over $30 billion
to renters and landlords through the end of February, and is on
pace to exhaust the "vast majority" of its funding by mid-year.
The program, launched in January 2021, struggled for the first
few months to get up and running as communities did not
previously have infrastructure to prevent evictions and counsel
renters facing job loss.
To avoid an abrupt cut-off of rental aid funding, the Treasury
said some state, local and tribal governments have allocated
some $3.75 billion from their allocations of State and Local
Fiscal Recovery Funds for rent, mortgage and utility assistance
as well as other eviction and prevention services.
That separate, $350 billion COVID-19 aid program allows for
broad spending discretion and is emerging as a significant
social policy tool.
The rental assistance program, enacted in two tranches in
December 2020 and in March 2021, has kept eviction rates during
the pandemic well below historical averages, Deputy U.S.
Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
"As these emergency funds run out, now is the time for state and
local governments to leverage this infrastructure to provide
services like right-to-counsel programs and housing counselors
that will help families avoid economic scarring long after
COVID-19 is in the rear-view mirror."
The Emergency Rental Assistance Program reported about $1.93
billion spent on rent, utilities and arrears in February,
compared to $1.94 billion for January and $2.45 billion in
December 2021. It aided 462,552 households in February.
(Reporting by David LawderEditing by Chizu Nomiyama and Chris
Reese)
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