Nebraska

NLIHC has estimated a need for no less than $100 billion in emergency rental assistance and broke down the need and cost for each state (download Excel spreadsheet). 

In response to COVID-19 and its economic fallout, many cities and states are creating or expanding rental assistance programs to support individuals and families impacted by the pandemic, and NLIHC is tracking in-depth information on these programs.  

You can use the interactive map and searchable database to find state and local emergency rental assistance programs near you. You can also see the latest news on rental assistance programs through the state-by-state news tracker. Note that this is not a comprehensive list of all rental assistance programs as we continue to update frequently. If you are aware of a program not included in our database, please contact [email protected]. 

COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Programs

Across the country, homeless service providers are struggling to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to follow public health guidelines and help ensure people’s safety, some shelters are being forced to reduce services, restrict admittance, or close entirely. The loss of these critical resources puts people experiencing homelessness at even higher risk of illness. Check NLIHC's cumulative list of shelter closings.

Below is a list of shelters that have had to majorly alter services or completely close:

Connection Homeless Shelter is not taking new residents in order to help stop the spread of coronavirus among residents.

Omaha received an additional $61 million in federal emergency rental assistance funds, including $50 million from Nebraska and $11 million in reallocated funds from across the country.

An attempt to override Governor Pete Ricketts’s veto of a federal rental assistance bill fell one vote short on April 5. The legislation would have forced Governor Ricketts to apply for Nebraska’s second round of emergency rental assistance (ERA2).

Updated on May 23, 2022

Nebraska’s statewide Tenant Assistance Program, a collaboration of 20 programs that provide representation for tenants facing eviction, has reduced immediate eviction judgments from 90% to less than 2%.

Updated on January 30, 2022

Eviction filings in Lancaster County have doubled over the last six months. In November, 210 eviction hearings were filed in the county – a 106% increase from June when the federal eviction moratorium was still in effect.

Updated on December 13, 2021

Nebraska Public Media reports Douglas County is seeing a rise in evictions due to the end of the federal eviction moratorium in August, with 80 evictions filed last week. Rental assistance has helped keep families in their homes, and there are still funds available to Nebraskans in need of relief.

Updated on November 15, 2021

Eviction cases ending with a judgment for an immediate eviction have dropped from 90% to 2% in Douglas County since the Tenant Assistance Program (TAP) was launched. Through the program, a collaboration among over 20 organizations, volunteer lawyers provide legal representation for residents facing eviction. TAP helps connect tenants to emergency rental assistance and has partnered with Legal Aid of Nebraska on outreach efforts.

Updated on October 25, 2021

Douglas County Commissioners approved $410,000 in federal aid to further support the volunteer-based Tenant Assistance Project, a program that launched in August 2021.

Updated on October 13, 2021

Advocates and organizations serving Lincoln tenants facing eviction report the number of evictions continues to grow as eviction protections are set to expire at the end of March. Renters facing eviction are encouraged to reach out to the Lincoln Tenant Assistance Project and Community Action’s Tenant Support Services resources website.

Nebraska is now accepting applications for its $200 million Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Nebraska residents, except those in Douglas or Lancaster Counties, can apply for assistance now.

Lincoln and Lancaster County together have received nearly $15 million in federal rental and utility assistance funds. More than 1,100 people contacted Lincoln’s rental assistance administrators since the program began last year, and 850 payments have been approved. Both counties are preparing to staff and launch an online portal to help an influx of applicants for the new funds. Housing advocates have called on the city to enact its own blanket eviction moratorium, but neither the city council nor the mayor has proposed one.

Updated on March 01, 2021

The Douglas County Board on January 26 decided to allocate $2 million of its $10 million unspent CARES Act funds for rent and mortgage assistance. The county will give the funds to the Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless to distribute. Omaha is expected to receive about $22 million in rent relief from the new COVID-19 relief bill, and the county will receive about $4 million to help Douglas County residents who live outside city limits.

Nebraska senators on January 27 discussed a group of bills that would address long-standing issues that were laid bare in 2020 amid the pandemic, economic fallout, and looming eviction crisis.

Updated on February 01, 2021

Legal Aid of Nebraska has handled more than 800 eviction cases since March, with more than a third of those occurring in Lancaster County, and just over half in Douglas County. Many renters are unaware that they must take action to be protected by the federal eviction moratorium.

Updated on January 25, 2021

The eight development districts in Nebraska have CARES Act funds available to landlords who have documented financial loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rent to low-to-moderate income tenants. Landlords can request up to $2,400 for lost rent or utility payments as a result of the pandemic.

Updated on November 17, 2020

Omaha Tenants United and Legal Aid of Nebraska held a virtual town hall to answer renters’ questions about their housing situation and eviction protections.

Updated on October 14, 2020

Despite the state and federal eviction moratoriums, 466 evictions have occurred in Omaha during the pandemic. According to the Understanding Evictions in Omaha study, evictions are not evenly distributed across Omaha, with communities of color disproportionately impacted due to the city’s history of racial inequity.

Updated on October 5, 2020

The Nebraska legislature rejected an attempt by Lincoln Senator Adam Morfeld to enact an eviction moratorium. Morfield attempted to attach an amendment to a housing bill that would enact an eviction moratorium during a public health emergency, such as COVID-19, but it failed on a largely partisan vote. 

Updated on August 4, 2020.

More households across central Nebraska are struggling to pay rent due to COVID-19. Tri-city homeless shelters are preparing for a potential rise in people requesting emergency housing. According to the associate executive director at the Crossroads Center Rescue Mission in Kearney, resident numbers in the organization’s shelters rose 30% over the past week.

Updated on July 28, 2020.

Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird announced on July 7 that the city will allocate approximately $906,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG-CV) and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) to provide rent, mortgage, and utility payments. Approximately $2.7 million in ESG-CV will be used to assist people experiencing homelessness. 

Updated on July 13, 2020.

Governor Ricketts’ signed an executive order on March 25 to protect Nebraska residents facing eviction due to COVID-19.

Federal, state, and local eviction moratoriums are rapidly expiring and the CARES Act supplemental unemployment benefits will end soon; at that time, millions of low-income renters will be at risk of losing their homes. The NLIHC estimates at least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance is needed to keep low-income renters stably housed during and after the pandemic. This tracker links to news reports of the growing evictions crisis in various cities and states. Check NLIHC's cumulative list of eviction updates.

Governor’s executive order deferring landlord’s ability to proceed in a trial in eviction action if the tenant can prove unpaid rent is due to loss of income due to COVID, expired May 31.  Eviction cases are being conducted remotely and in person. 

Updated: July 31

In the third week of July, 13.4% of adults in Nebraska reported they had missed their previous housing payment or had little confidence they would make their next one on time, according to a weekly survey conducted by the Census. In the same survey, 19,318 renters reported they had not paid their previous rental payment.

On July 27, the state legislature voted against a bill to create a statewide eviction moratorium. 

Updated: July 29

According to a weekly survey by the Census, 1 in 5 adults in the state either missed their last housing payment or have little/no confidence of being able to make next month’s housing payment.

Updated: July 16