Missouri

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:

Hope House, a domestic violence shelter in the Kansas City area is not accepting any new clients.

St. Louis City and County’s Human Services Departments have joined forces to provide one online portal for residents to apply for the latest round of federal emergency rental assistance funds. The new portal will be managed by LiveStories, a company selected during a competitive bid process to oversee the application process for both the city and the county.

Updated on May 23, 2022

The Kansas City Council voted unanimously on December 9 to establish a program that would provide legal representation to tenants facing eviction, regardless of income. The ordinance provides the city manager with 90 days to identify funding for the program. Supporters of the ordinance say federal COVID-19 relief funds can get the program up and running, but Kansas City will need to identify consistent funding sources to maintain the program.

Updated on December 20, 2021

Steep increases in rent prices continue to force St. Louis tenants from their homes. Even with COVID-19-related eviction moratoriums in place, there have been more than 11,000 evictions filed in St. Louis since March 2020.

Updated on December 13, 2021

The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law’s Tenant Representation Initiative has prevented hundreds of COVID-related evictions by providing legal counsel. In collaboration with the United Way of Greater Kansas City, the Tenant Representation team uses federal coronavirus relief funds to provide rental assistance throughout Jackson County and Kansas City, Missouri. 

Updated on November 22, 2021

Missouri is at risk of losing millions in federal emergency rental assistance (ERA) because it has awarded only 18% of the $323.7 million in ERA1 funds it received, as of September 30.  Compared to the city of St. Louis, which has spent 57% of its ERA1 allocation, St. Louis County has spent 71%, as of September 30. Localities continue to spend their ERA1 funding more quickly than states.

Updated on November 8, 2021

After 80 tenants at Pleasant Valley Apartments in Ferguson received notices of eviction, Mayor Ella Jones pledged to connect them to emergency rental assistance (ERA) programs. According to local officials, some residents who received eviction notices may have already been approved for ERA from St. Louis County, but the payments have not been sent to the apartment complex because employees failed to submit the required tax documents.
Updated on September 27, 2021

More than 2,800 evictions have been filed in Jackson County so far in 2021. Legal aid attorneys expect those numbers to increase now that the federal eviction moratorium has been invalidated. Across Missouri, 94,000 households were behind on rent as of early August.

Updated on September 21, 2021

NPR’s Ari Shapiro spoke with a housing attorney in Missouri about the new eviction moratorium and the status of emergency rental assistance distribution across the state. 
Updated on August 30, 2021

A major owner of apartments around St. Louis is accused of violating the CDC eviction moratorium.

With the federal eviction moratorium on shaky legal ground, Missouri advocates say the race to distribute federal emergency rental assistance has become much more urgent. Since the Missouri Housing Development Commission’s online application for more than $300 million in ERA went live on February 15, the commission has received more than 3,500 applications. They have approved 736 applications, totaling $3.6 million.
Updated on June 4, 2021

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the St. Louis County Council on April 27 approved a measure to temporarily halt 600 evictions that resumed earlier this month, but not without pushback from landlords and some council members who say the legislation is not enforceable against a standing court order. The council voted 4-2 to approve the measure that enforces federal health officials’ guidance to halt evictions through June 30 by barring landlords from filing evictions.

Updated on May 3, 2021

A vote on a St. Louis County bill that would halt evictions has been delayed once again. Evictions in the county resumed in early April. A bill that would adopt guidance from federal health officials to halt nearly all evictions through June 30 is being revised to address concerns that it conflicts with a ruling from St. Louis County Circuit Judge Michael Burton that ended the moratorium.

Updated on April 28, 2021

The Missouri Housing Development Commission announced that applications for the Missouri State Assistance for Housing Relief Program are now open. Governor Parson on February 11 signed HB 16 into law, which provides more than $324 million in federal funding for rental and utility assistance.

Updated on February 22, 2021

Thousands of eviction filings are piling up in St. Louis and St. Louis County courts. According to data compiled by the Eviction Lab, landlords have filed almost 5,000 evictions since mid-March.

Updated on February 01, 2021

Homeless encampments in downtown St. Louis are being shut down. While some encampment residents are considering going to a shelter, others are moving to a different location due to safety concerns regarding shelters. Advocates are calling on the city to provide safer options for individuals experiencing homelessness. The city has provided 50 tiny homes for people experiencing homelessness, and officials expect the temporary housing village to be full by the end of January.

A Missouri landlord removed the front door of a tenant’s home because she was two months late on rent – an action that violates state statutes. Legal Services of Eastern Missouri receives calls daily from tenants who are having their doors or locks removed, being locked out, or having their utilities shut off. These actions constitute unlawful evictions.

Approximately 50,000 households in the Kansas City metro area are at risk of homelessness. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas requested that Jackson County’s 16th Judicial Circuit extend and expand the eviction moratorium through June 2021.

Updated on January 15, 2021

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the continuing spread of the coronavirus is complicating efforts to provide emergency overnight shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness this upcoming winter. The city has added 245 beds for people experiencing homelessness for a total of 2,400 city-supported beds, and an additional 170 beds are expected to be available in December.

Updated on December 9, 2020

St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison issued an order on November 6 extending an eviction moratorium through December 31. The judge stated the extension is necessary to keep people stably housed and give city officials more time to process housing assistance applications.

Updated on November 17, 2020

Missouri housing and homeless advocates are concerned about a tsunami of evictions when the federal eviction moratorium and several circuit court orders expire. Calls from families on the verge of eviction have increased 300% at Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri.  

Missouri legislators approved $9.6 million in Emergency Solutions Grant – Coronavirus (ESG-CV) in May and will return for a special session in November to appropriate more. The Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) has not delivered the funds yet, stating it has been unable to do so because it did not receive guidance from HUD on its use until September 1. “Are the feds slowing down any decision made at the state level, or is this MHDC dragging their feet on getting the money out the door?” said state Representative Kip Kendrick. 

Updated on November 10, 2020

Missouri advocates are concerned about a surge in evictions when the CDC moratorium and some circuit court orders expire. There are 250 eviction judgments backlogged in St. Louis County, and when the moratoriums are lifted, sheriffs will have to serve those evictions. Despite the CDC moratorium, 470 evictions have been filed in Jackson County, 340 in Green County, and more than 90 in Boone County. 

Updated on November 4, 2020

The ACLU and ACLU of Missouri filed a federal lawsuit on September 30 challenging the Jackson County Circuit Court’s administrative order that says it implements the CDC nationwide eviction moratorium but instead permits eviction cases to move forward in violation of it. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of KC Tenants.

A commentary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch argues the U.S. will experience a wave of evictions if Congress fails to provide at least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance. Chris Krehmeyer, the president of Beyond Housing, a nonprofit organization, fears the looming eviction crisis will overwhelm organizations’ availability of funds. “I don’t think philanthropy can cover the size and scale of what could be coming,” said Krehmeyer. 

Updated on October 5, 2020

Missouri renters are facing growing risks of eviction alongside the COVID-19 pandemic and rising rents. The Coalition to Protect Missouri Tenants sent a letter on August 20 to Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice George Draper III, asking for a statewide eviction moratorium that lasts at least six months. The letter stated that over the next four months, an estimated 243,000 evictions will be filed across the state.

Updated on September 2, 2020.

The Kansas City Star shares the story of a single mother of three who was evicted from her Kansas City rental home. According to the Kansas City Eviction Project, more than 1,600 eviction cases have been heard in Jackson County since the moratorium expired on May 31.

Voice of America profiles Kansas City renters at risk of eviction. According to Tara Raghuvee, director of the KC Tenants, nearly half of Missouri renters are at risk of eviction in the coming months.

Updated on August 25, 2020.

An order from the 22nd Missouri Judicial Court declared that evictions in St. Louis are suspended until September 1, 2020. The city is referring around 3,000 applicants from residents to an agency to help people work through the documentation needed to get their federal assistance. 

Updated on August 19, 2020.

Housing advocates in Kansas City are bracing for a massive eviction and homelessness crisis after the federal eviction moratorium expired and the expanded unemployment benefits expire on July 31. A statewide survey found that at least 48% of Missouri renters are at risk of losing their homes.

Updated on August 4, 2020.

A spokesperson for St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said that the city’s efforts to clear encampments along highway overpass corridors were made at the request of the Missouri Department of Transportation. The decision to clear encampments sparked a protest outside of the mayor’s home on July 1.

A medical shelter and quarantine center in Springfield for people experiencing homelessness who test positive for the coronavirus is now operational. The shelter will provide food, laundry services, and medical consultation.

The city of St. Louis has ordered another encampment under Interstate 44 to be vacated. A lawsuit has been filed in response to the city’s actions. This is the third encampment in recent months that the city has ordered to be disbanded.

Updated on July 7, 2020.

The director of advocacy for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri wrote an Op-Ed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch discussing the importance of helping tenants – and the individuals and agencies who work with them – understand the tenant protections included in the CARES Act. 

Updated on June 12, 2020.

Governor Mike Parson highlighted the housing assistance available to Missourians during the pandemic. The state will use Community Development Block Grant and Emergency Solutions Grants to help meet the housing needs of Missouri residents.

St. Louis officials cleared an encampment with approximately 100 tents over the last several days. A lawsuit was filed to stop the city from sweeping the encampment, but a federal judge denied the request.

Governor Mark Parson announced that Missouri will receive $24 million in federal funding to support homeowners and renters that have been impacted by the pandemic. In a tweet, the Governor reported that the state will receive an additional $9.4 million dollars in ESG funds that can be used to help people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. 

An individual experiencing homelessness that tested positive for COVID-19 walked out of a St. Louis hospital and sparked an urgent search. St. Louis Human Services quickly reached out to all homeless shelters in the city, informing them of the situation. The man was later found and is staying in an area hotel room.

A homeless couple from Kansas City’s difficulties getting tested for COVID-19 illustrate the issues individuals experiencing homelessness are having in accessing testing and medical care.

Kansas City

Kansas City will fund a third attorney to provide legal aid to low-income renters facing eviction. The Kansas City Council funded two attorneys from Legal Aid of Western Missouri last month. The third attorney is from the Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas appealed to the Jackson County Legislature on May 18 to receive $54,588,149 from Jackson County’s $122.7 million disbursement of CARES Act funds. Of that amount, Kansas City plans to allocate $10 million for housing assistance, $500,000 for legal aid for low-income tenants facing eviction, and $5.5 million for social services, including support for homeless shelters and housing providers.

Springfield

The Springfield City Council passed a bill on June 15 that allocated nearly $1 million in federal CARES Act funding, with $383,000 for affordable housing assistance, including $183,000 in Community Development Block Grant - Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funds and $200,000 in existing HOME Grant funds. The city council also allocated $330,038 for services for people experiencing homelessness and homeless prevention and $403,100 for forgivable business loans.

Updated on June 22, 2020.

St. Louis

Two motels and one hotel in St. Louis have been converted into temporary housing for people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. The city is paying for approximately 200 rooms and providing 24/7 security. An official from the St. Louis mayor’s office reported that these efforts are costing approximately $800,000 through June, which the city hopes to be reimbursed for by the federal government.

Updated on June 22, 2020.

St. Louis County is making available an additional $5 million in federal CARES Act funding to provide rental assistance, mortgage assistance, and support to people experiencing homelessness.

Updated on June 12, 2020.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson announced on May 29 plans for a $64 million COVID-19 relief package that will be funded through federal CARES Act funding. Under the proposed plan, the Department of Human Services would receive $20 million to address housing and homelessness, including more than $5 million for rental and mortgage assistance and more than $2 million for rapid rehousing.

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.

 The Kansas City Star shares the story of a single mother of three who was evicted from her Kansas City rental home. According to the Kansas City Eviction Project, more than 1,600 eviction cases have been heard in Jackson County since the moratorium expired on May 31. Voice of America profiles Kansas City renters at risk of eviction. Currently, nearly 50% of renters in the state are at risk of eviction because they can’t pay their rent, KC Tenants Director Tara Raghuvee told VOA.

Updated on August 28, 2020.

No statewide order was ever issued. The State Supreme Court and some local courts stopped hearing eviction cases from April 1-May 15, but it was not uniformly enacted.  Eviction cases are being conducted remotely and in person at the discretion of the local court. 

Updated: July 31

In the third week of July, 19.9% of adults in Missouri 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, 160,512 renters reported they had not paid their previous rental payment.

An estimated 48% of Missouri renters are at risk of eviction. 

Updated: July 29

According to a weekly survey by the Census, 1 in 3 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