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10/26/2021

More than 510,000 Households Received Emergency Rental Assistance in September, Totaling Nearly $2.8 Billion in …

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
More than 510,000 Households Received Emergency Rental
Assistance in September, Totaling Nearly $2.8 Billion in
Payments
October 25, 2021

WASHINGTON — State and local governments distributed nearly $2.8 billion from the
Department of Treasury’s Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program to more than 510,000
households in September, up from 459,000[1] in August. Through September 30, state, local,
and Tribal governments have made over 2 million payments to households and distributed
over $10 billion.
The September data provides the first look into Emergency Rental Assistance spending since
the Supreme Court overturned the Centers for Disease Control’s national eviction
moratorium at the end of August. Together with the local moratoria and court diversion
e orts that are part of the Biden Administration’s all-of-government approach to keeping
people safe and housed during the pandemic, the Emergency Rental Assistance program is
on track to protect millions of Americans from eviction and to make over 3 million payments
by the end of the year at the current rate. Data from Princeton University’s Eviction Lab
suggest that there has been no major national spike in evictions a er the federal
moratorium came down, with evictions filings remaining below historical averages. That said,
every unnecessary eviction is one too many, which is why Treasury continues to do
everything it can to make sure assistance is reaching people who need it most – including by
working to ensure that those facing eviction have an opportunity to apply and are protected
during the application process.
Nearly all jurisdictions reported continued growth in September, and many grantees that
were slow to deliver assistance, initially, reported significant spikes as they adopted more of
Treasury’s application and procedural flexibilities, streamlined operations, and reduced
application backlogs. The City of Los Angeles more than doubled its disbursements from $32
million in August to $72 million in September. The State of Illinois jumped to $177 million in
September from $62 million in August, a 185% increase. The states of Minnesota, Michigan,
and North Carolina all increased their overall expenditure ratios more than 14% between
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10/26/2021

More than 510,000 Households Received Emergency Rental Assistance in September, Totaling Nearly $2.8 Billion in …

August and September. Each of these states simplified their application processes for
tenants through an enhanced reliance on self-attestation. The coordinated programs of the
City and County of Durham, North Carolina increased their expenditure ratio by 34% between
August and September, which they attribute to contracting with non-profit communitybased organizations to work with tenants and landlords – especially those with language or
technical challenges – and speed up their application process. The localities also integrated
social workers into the court system to ensure people facing eviction know about Emergency
Rental Assistance and get the help they need to apply.
With state and local governments distributing more assistance each month, Treasury will
soon begin the process – as required by the ERA1 statute – of recapturing excess funds from
allocations that exceed a jurisdiction’s needs or administrative capacity for reallocation to
areas with demonstrated needs for this assistance. Earlier this month, Treasury
communicated

to all grantees about how the reallocation process will work

, and

beginning in mid-November, Treasury will make determinations of excess funds. As
recaptured funds become available, Treasury will work to prioritize requests from grantees in
the same state where the funds were initially allocated. The remainder will be available for
reallocation nationwide, with priority a orded to grantees already on track to expend all
their remaining ERA funds. In making all these decisions, Treasury will be guided by its
commitment to ensure the funds available to each grantee are as closely aligned as possible
with the needs of the families living in its jurisdiction.
Reallocation is not the only additional source of funding available to state and local
grantees. Last month, Treasury began distributing the remaining funds available under the
second wave of ERA funding authorized by the American Rescue Plan (ERA2). These recent
payments have been made to state and local government grantees who have already
substantially expended their ERA1 funds and at least 75% of the initial ERA2 disbursements
received in May (equal to 40% of each grantee’s ERA 2 allocation). So far, dozens of cities and
counties, in addition to multiple states, have met the threshold and received their remaining
ERA2 funds. Treasury is also reminding grantees that they may use their Coronavirus State
and Local Fiscal Recovery program funds toward rental assistance initiatives.
Find the September Emergency Rental Assistance data here

.

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More than 510,000 Households Received Emergency Rental Assistance in September, Totaling Nearly $2.8 Billion in …

[1] Treasury originally reported 420,000 households served in August, but updated the figure
to account for additional reporting from grantees during this time period.

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