NLIHC released a new brief today, “Extending the Reach of Emergency Rental Assistance: Leveraging Federal Resources.” The brief explores how three federal programs – the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), HOME Investment Partnerships-American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP), and Community Development Block Grants-Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) programs – can be used to bridge the gap between the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury) Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program and the provision of longer-term rental assistance.
Congress appropriated $46.5 billion over the course of 2020 and 2021 to establish emergency rental assistance (ERA) and eviction prevention programs throughout the country, often in locations where support had not previously existed. Some communities have now depleted their ERA, even while many low-income renters are still in need of assistance. Fortunately, opportunities exist for leveraging federal dollars to maintain and expand emergency rental assistance to serve tenants in need.
The new brief highlights three federal programs that can be used by communities to provide further long-term assistance to low-income renters:
- Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF).
- HOME Investment Partnerships Program – American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP).
- Community Development Block Grant – Coronavirus (CDBG-CV).
Many communities are already using or planning to use SLFRF, HOME-ARP, or CDBG-CV funds to maintain or expand emergency rental assistance programs, and examples of these uses are provided in the brief. In April, California announced that ERA grantees can use the state’s share of CDBG/CDBG-CV funds to provide rental subsidies to households to cover rent incurred on or after April 1, 2022. New Jersey and Washington are likewise using hundreds of millions of SLFRF funds for rental and utility assistance, while Houston, Texas, plans to use $2.5 million in HOME-ARP for tenant-base rental assistance (TBRA).
Read the brief here: “Extending the Reach of Emergency Rental Assistance: Leveraging Federal Resources.”
