Federal funds meant to help renters during the pandemic are still stuck in bureaucratic limbo as the end of the latest eviction moratorium looms in early October.
Although Congress allocated $46 billion in rental assistance in the last two COVID-19 stimulus packages, writes Annie Nova, "just around $4.2 billion of that money has reached households, according to a new analysis by the National Low Income Housing Coalition."
Distribution has varied widely in different states: "Texas has already managed to distribute more than half of its first round of federal rental assistance, while South Carolina has given out less than 2%." Throughout the U.S., "programs are understaffed and overwhelmed by the volume of applications. Insufficient outreach and arduous documentation requirements have also been barriers. A recent study by the Urban Institute found that fewer than half of renters even know about the federal assistance." The process can also be prohibitively complicated. "Andrew Aurand, vice president for research at the housing coalition, said he ran into one application that was 45 pages long. Another required renters to document their income over the last six months."
Recently, renters got a short reprieve with an extended eviction moratorium that ends on October 3, but housing advocates say getting rental assistance to those who urgently need it is the only way to prevent a future wave of evictions and displacement.
FULL STORY: This map shows how much rental assistance states have distributed
Spiking Rents Putting More People at Risk of Eviction
Housing costs across the country are becoming more and more unaffordable for low- and moderate-income households, a trend that began even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
One Quarter of Washington State Renters Fear Eviction
State data show more tenants expect eviction in the coming months even as the state struggles to disburse rental assistance funds.
How to Speed Up Rental Assistance Distribution
With the eviction moratorium set to expire soon, states and localities must do more to streamline the application process and get federal assistance dollars into the hands of renters facing eviction.
Which Cities Are Upzoning?
A recent study surveyed 800 jurisdictions in 50 U.S. metropolitan areas to quantify the amount of change in zoning regulations throughout the 21st century so far.
RAISE Grants Announced: U.S. DOT Shifts to a Greener Vision for Transportation
News broke early this morning the U.S. Department of Transportation had announced the first round of funding for the Biden administration's new discretionary grant funding program.
Land Costs and Housing Costs
One common argument against upzoning is that it increases land costs—but land costs rose in the most restrictive markets as well as the least restrictive ones.
Arlington County Government
Jon Stover & Associates
University of California San Diego
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Royal Oak, Michigan
City of San Carlos
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