Treasury Reports 80 Percent of Emergency Rental Assistance Delivered to Lowest-Income Households
The Department of the Treasury released demographic data today showing that Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program assisted millions of households and is reaching underserved and vulnerable communities. According to Treasury data, over 80 percent of ERA assistance was delivered to very low-income households, or those earning 50% of area median income and below, in 2021 — $15.87 billion out of $25.00 billion for ERA 1 and $3.96 billion out of $21.55 billion for ERA 2. Treasury also reported that high percentages of assistance are reaching Black, Latino, and female-headed households. In the fourth quarter of 2021, more than 40 percent of all primary applicants receiving assistance self-identified as Black and more than 20 percent self-identified as Latino, and female-headed households made up close to two thirds of ERA beneficiaries—in line with the rates at which Black, Latino, and female-headed households had faced eviction filings earlier in the pandemic. Treasury has also reallocated the initial tranche of ERA funding (ERA1) to grantees that are serving a higher share of extremely low-income households and more diverse communities than average. In 2021, ERA grantees made 3.8 million payments to eligible households and spent or obligated more than $25 billion, across ERA 1 and ERA 2. As grantees continue to provide robust support to low-income renters across the country with these emergency recovery funds – reducing the remaining funds available relative to ongoing need – Treasury is encouraging states and municipalities to make long-term investments to build on the infrastructure created through the implementation of the ERA program. Specifically, Treasury has granted significant flexibility for these expenses through its implementation of the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, which provided $350 billion that can be used to pursue a range of rental assistance and eviction prevention strategies. These long-term investments and policies, including those spurred by the implementation of the ERA, are viewed as vital components towards building comprehensive strategies that address the needs of the lowest-income renters and communities of color.
The findings announced by Treasury today follow a series of actions taken by the Department and the Biden Administration to ensure an equitable distribution of funds by state and local ERA grantees. This includes providing program guidance that strongly encouraged state and local ERA programs to reduce unduly burdensome documentation requirements and to deliver assistance directly to renters in cases where landlords would not cooperate. As part of a broader effort to drive awareness of ERA availability, Treasury targeted outreach to reach vulnerable and harder to reach communities to overcome structural barriers to equal participation. This included convening some of the nation’s leading faith organizations to encourage sign-up drives within their congregations and supporting labor unions and advocacy organizations’ mail and SMS multilingual outreach efforts. “When we began implementing the Emergency Rental Assistance program, one of the goals was to use the resources to prevent an eviction crisis from hitting our country’s most vulnerable families. A year later, Treasury is pleased to report that the vast majority of rental assistance has gone to keeping the lowest-income families in their homes during the pandemic. This wasn’t by accident, and we continue to use every lever to ensure these funds are distributed equitably and encourage state and local grantees to increase ease of access.” said Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo.
To view the official press release, click here.
To view Deputy Secretary Adeyemo’s recent report on efforts to put equity front and center in its implementation of recovery programs, click here.