Emergency rental assistance (ERA) programs must serve the lowest-income and most marginalized renters in need of housing assistance in time to prevent a wave of evictions and to promote housing stability. NLIHC has compiled Department of Treasury ERA guidance, emerging research, and innovations from the field into its End Rental Arears to Stop Evictions (ERASE) call to action. The call to action is designed to help state partners, local jurisdictions, and ERA program administrators: 1) ensure assistance is delivered quickly to those most in need, and 2) develop the infrastructure for scale and sustainability. NLIHC has developed a series of checklists to help make a quick assessment of ERA programs in several key areas.
ERASE aims to ensure ERA programs are:
- Visible: Emergency rental assistance providers must conduct equitable and robust marketing and outreach efforts to ensure all landlords, low-income renters, and those already experiencing homelessness due to housing loss know about ERA programs and how to access assistance in their communities.
- Accessible: Programs must support equitable and efficient access to and disbursement of financial support to landlords and tenants by ensuring an accessible, streamlined, and low-barrier ERA application process.
- Preventive: Programs must ensure holistic, responsive interventions at all intervention points, such as state and local courts, to prevent evictions, housing displacement and homelessness and to integrate tenant protections into a well-rounded eviction-diversion and prevention strategy.
NLIHC has developed a series of checklists to support states and localities in advancing this framework. The tools can help jurisdictions make a quick assessment of emergency rental assistance programs, outline attributes for model programs, and offer strategies for program implementation, partnership development, and course correction.
Access the ERASE checklists at: https://tinyurl.com/2javvj6f
For more information on (ERA) programs in your area and for tools and resources to support ERA implementation, please visit the NLIHC Emergency Rental Assistance Dashboard at: https://nlihc.org/era-dashboard