Rental Eviction and the COVID-19 Pandemic Averting a Looming Crisis (2022) / Chapter Skim
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Goal 1: Mitigate: Bridge Financial, Social, and Legal Assistance
Goal 1: Mitigate: Bridge Financial, Social, and Legal Assistance
Pages 7-16
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From page 7... ...
Congress had approved a total of $46.55 billion for emergency rental assistance to prevent a wave of evictions due to the large amount of accumulated rental arrears as pandemic-related moratoriums expire.1 However, because of the complexity associated with distributing financial assistance to individuals -- ranging from administrative and workforce to technical challenges encountered at each level of government -- only a small portion of this rental aid had reached tenants and landlords by May (DeParle, 2021)
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From page 8... ...
For these reasons and across all scenarios explored, the Strategy Group determined that actions aimed at working in partnership with community-based organizations to bridge existing social and financial programs so as to reach tenants most at risk of eviction and at expanding and improving social safety net programs are robust means of successfully reducing housing instability due to the COVID-19 crisis and beyond, as well as mitigating the impacts of evictions that do occur. 1 STRATEGY 1A: Harness Existing Social Programs for Broad, Proactive, and Targeted Outreach to Connect Renters with Financial and Legal Assistance Rationale: Many tenants who face a loss of housing may not know what resources are available to them or how to make use of those resources.
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From page 9... ...
, and a strengthened legal and organizational framework, these agencies could quickly begin reaching millions of individuals at risk of losing their housing with information on eviction moratoriums, how to connect to local legal aid providers, and how to apply for federal emergency rental assistance funds.4 In May 2021, for example, the National Low Income Housing Coalition launched an Emergency Rental Assistance Resource Hub, Dashboard, and Program Table to "monitor trends [and] facilitate resource sharing," a critical step to "help renters access emergency rental assistance."5 Recognizing the importance of hearing and learning from a diverse coalition of stakeholders -- such as property owners and managers, tenants, lawyers, researchers, community advocates, and government leaders -- local and state institutions have established cross-sectoral task forces to develop rental eviction mitigation strategies prior to6 or as an emergency response to the pandemic.7 While many such programs are administered at the state level, several are operating within a federal system led by federal agencies.
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From page 10... ...
Action 1A-2: To protect tenants from eviction and provide relief for landlords, state and federal agencies that administer social programs could use their administrative infrastructures -- along with any improvements resulting from Action 1A-1 -- to quickly and effectively allocate the emergency rental assistance funds provided by recent federal relief packages directly to tenant rental arrears accumulated because of hardship during the pandemic. To reduce the administrative burden placed on tenants, landlords could be permitted to apply for rental assistance.
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From page 11... ...
Action 1A-5: HUD should engage with the U.S. Department of Justice to distribute funds provided by recent federal relief packages to existing legal aid programs in order to increase the number of attorneys that can represent tenants and coordinate the right to access legal counsel for those facing eviction because of the hardship resulting from the pandemic.
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From page 12... ...
, immigrant, and refugee communities that may not be covered by public assistance programs; people with disabilities; and members of other historically marginalized communities. 1 STRATEGY 1C: Expand and Improve Social Safety Net Programs during the Pandemic and Beyond Rationale for Actions 1C-1, 1C-2, 1C-3, and 1C-4: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to large-scale and long-lasting unemployment among workers in low-wage service sectors.
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From page 13... ...
. Many lower-income workers spend the majority of their income on food and other necessities, so they have difficulty paying rent and surviving on regular unemployment insurance benefits, which pay no more than 50 percent of prior earnings.10 To these workers, in addition to emergency housing assistance described elsewhere in this report, the supplement to weekly benefits provided by the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation11 programs, the expansion of who is able to claim benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program,12 and the 15 percent increase in SNAP benefits, all extended through September 2021, and the ability to claim SNAP while receiving unemployment insurance benefits have been crucial to avoiding housing and food insecurity and will likely continue to be important until employment is more fully restored.13 The pandemic has also highlighted important limitations of the major U.S.
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From page 14... ...
Congress, USDOL, and state governments might consider ways to extend eligibility for unemployment insurance permanently for workers who are traditionally uncovered, including self-employed and part-time workers and those who otherwise do not meet the income threshold. Action 1C-4: USDA's Food and Nutrition Service could modernize SNAP by updating the Thrifty Food Plan to better account for costs, eliminating barriers to participation, incorporating Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer as a permanent part of the program, and enhancing the program's automatic stabilizer characteristics so families need not choose between paying rent and buying food during the pandemic and beyond.
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From page 15... ...
Action 1C-7: To reach low-income renters more effectively, USDOL and responsible state agencies could use the infrastructure discussed under Action 1A-1 to take steps toward integrating unemployment insurance programs with other social insurance programs serving similar populations, such as SNAP and housing assistance programs, using the dashboard described in Action 2A-5 below. Action 1C-8: In light of the difficulties encountered by the government while distributing emergency assistance to vulnerable individuals during the pandemic, USDOL, USDA, HUD, IRS, and state governments should improve infrastructure for linking services and delivering payments to households, in particular those that do not currently file taxes, so that during future disruptive events, individuals and households will receive payments in a timely fashion, protecting them and the nation's economy.
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