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7/21/2021

Treasury Data: Amount of June Emergency Rental Assistance Resources to Households More Than All Previous Months …

Treasury Data: Amount of June Emergency Rental Assistance
Resources to Households More Than All Previous Months
Combined
July 21, 2021

New grantee performance data for the month of June on the Emergency Rental Assistance
(ERA) program, released today by the Treasury Department, shows a significant increase in
the number of households served and the amount of funds provided to households as state
and local programs continued to ramp up their e orts. More than $1.5 billion in assistance
was delivered to eligible households in the month of June, more than the assistance
provided all three previous reporting periods combined. The number of households served
in June grew by about 85% over the previous month and nearly tripled since April. In June,
290,000 households were served, up from 160,000 served in May and approximately 100,000
in April

. This represents significant progress, but there is still much further work to go to

ensure tenants and landlords take advantage of the historic funding available to help cover
rent, utilities, and other housing costs and keep people in their homes.
This increase in program performance month-over-month throughout the second quarter
reflects the e orts of many grantees during the first quarter to build their systems, sta ing,
and capacities to take on this major e ort. ERA is helping develop a new national
infrastructure for rental assistance and eviction prevention that did not previously exist, and
as programs are created, they are able to scale quickly. This helps to explain how, for
example, the State of Illinois went from reporting zero assistance deployed in May to being
the second highest provider of rental assistance among all grantees in June. Across the
country, programs are being established to distribute funds both in the short-term as the
federal eviction moratorium expires at the end of July, and to support renters over the life of
the programs, which – in the case of the ERA under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
(ERA2) – will continue until 2025.
On Friday, July 16, Deputy Treasury Secretary Adeyemo visited Houston and Harris County,
where he highlighted one of the nation’s strongest local ERA programs. Houston and Harris
County operate their ERA program in a regional partnership through two high-capacity,
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Treasury Data: Amount of June Emergency Rental Assistance Resources to Households More Than All Previous Months …

culturally competent non-profit agencies. Together, they have delivered more than $137
million in assistance to more than 36,000 eligible renters in the Houston metro area. During
his visit, the Deputy Secretary learned how the program was working closely with strong,
community-based nonprofit agencies that have the ability to provide culturally and
linguistically relevant services, calling it “critical for achieving an equitable distribution of
these emergency resources.” Administrators have seen success moving programs away from
a “first come, first serve” strategy and instead using tactics like prioritizing households with a
rental obligation below fair market rent as a proxy for vulnerability to housing insecurity and
providing extra support to applicants with an active eviction case.
While more households are getting help, in many states and localities, funds are still not
flowing fast enough to renters and landlords. Treasury is continuing an all-out e ort, in
coordination with the White House and interagency partners, to get the word out about the
availability of rental assistance and to support grantees in ramping up their e orts.
Over the past few months, Treasury has worked with the White House and other agencies as
part of a whole-of-government e ort to get state and local grantees to speed up assistance
by:
Publishing guidance and FAQs

encouraging direct assistance to tenants, streamlined

documentation requirements, cultural competency in programs, and ensuring that funds
can assist individuals experiencing homelessness.
Highlighting successful grantee programs through roundtables and promising practices.
Reaching out to state and local grantees that have yet to distribute rental assistance in
their communities to o er additional support.
Treasury has also reiterated its grantees that it will use every tool available to get aid to
struggling renters, including by using its statutory authority to reallocate funds that have not
been obligated beginning in the fall.
Later today, Treasury will participate in the White House’s second virtual convening on
eviction prevention – a follow up to last month’s Eviction Prevention Summit – where the
Administration will continue to call for an all-hands-on-deck e ort by state and local
governments, courts, community organizations, and the legal community to prevent
evictions, including moving more quickly to get emergency rental assistance to families in
need.
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Treasury Data: Amount of June Emergency Rental Assistance Resources to Households More Than All Previous Months …

Emergency Rental Assistance Compliance Report

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