Pandemic rental assistance has been a chaotic mess. In December 2020, the federal government authorized $25 billion in rental assistance through the Federal Emergency Rental Assistance program. Another $21 million was authorized in March 2021. However, to date only 7% of that money has been distributed to its intended recipients. As David Dayen at The American Prospect reports in one of the best breakdowns of the issue, this fact is at the heart of the current prospect of an “eviction cliff.” Why has the rental relief program — which should have eliminated most of the need for an eviction moratorium — been such a disaster? In two words: it’s complicated. (I mean literally. It’s too complicated to administer.)
The federal government did not administer the rent relief program directly, but instead left it to states and localities to create literally hundreds of their own such programs from scratch in almost no time. New York State, for example, did not open its application portal until June 1, 2021. And in that first month, although the state received 120,000 applicants for rent relief, no money whatsoever was disbursed. The state’s own eviction moratorium is set to expire August 31.
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