The ERA Resource Hub offers examples of how programs are incorporating self-attestation, direct-to-tenant payments, prioritization, and other elements of design and implementation to enhance equity and efficiency within their ERA programs. While this hub offers customizable examples and ideas, ERA grantees and partners will have the best knowledge of which examples will fit their needs. We will continually update the ERA Resource Hub with new resources. If you have general feedback on the Resource Hub or have resources you would like to share, please let us know at [email protected]
Data for the Resource Hub was collected from state and local partners and from program webpages. If you are interested in more opportunities to share lessons learned and best practices related to housing needs amid COVID-19, please join NLIHC’s State and Local Implementation Working Group, held weekly on Wednesdays at 3:00 PM ET.
If you are a renter or landlord looking for assistance with rent or utilities, use NLIHC’s searchable database to find a Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program near you.
Learn more about the Treasury ERA program and NLIHC’s ERA database
The Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program includes an unprecedented amount of funding for emergency rental assistance to help renters stay stably housed. The December 2020 COVID-19 relief package included $25 billion in urgently needed emergency rental assistance for tenants with low incomes and established the Emergency Rental Assistance program (ERA) under the administration of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The “American Rescue Plan Act,” enacted in March 2021, provided an additional $21.55 billion for ERA for a grand total of $46.55 billion in emergency rental assistance. States (including the District of Columbia), territories, tribal governments or tribally designated housing entities, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and local governments with more than 200,000 residents may be administering local programs as part of the federal Treasury ERA program.
Emergency Rental Assistance Checklists
NLIHC has developed a series of checklists so that stakeholders can quickly assess whether their programs are visible, accessible, and preventive. Use the checklists to evaluate your program and then access the resources below to help integrate key elements into programs near you.
Access the Emergency Rental Assistance Checklists here!
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ERA Program Design and Implementation
Outreach Materials
Robust and strategic outreach efforts can help ensure that assistance reaches households that need it most. The following resources provide examples of different materials ERA programs use to get the word out about available assistance.Program Location Link Shelby County, TN ERA Resources - Outreach - Shelby County, TN Cameron County, TX ERA Resources - Outreach - Cameron County, TX Shelby County, TN ERA Resources - Outreach - Shelby County, TN Louisiana ERA Resources - Outreach - Louisiana Texas ERA Resources - Outreach - Texas Baldwin County, AL ERA Resources - Outreach - Baldwin County, AL Austin, TX ERA Resources - Outreach - Austin, TX Michigan ERA Resources - Outreach - Michigan Self-Attestation
Recent Treasury guidance strongly discourages burdensome documentation requirements and provides alternative ways to verify eligibility, including self-attestation. These forms provide examples of how ERA Treasury programs are allowing applicants to attest to experiencing COVID hardship, having an income less than 80% AMI, experiencing housing instability, and having a tenant/landlord relationship in the absence of a lease.Program Location Link Washington ERA Resources - Self-Attestation Multiple - Washington Wyoming ERA Resources - Self-Attestation Multiple - Wyoming Brazoria County, TX ERA Resources - Self-Attestation Multiple - Brazoria County, TX Hall County, GA ERA Resources- Self-Attestation Multiple - Hall County, Georgia Mississippi ERA Resources - Self-Attestation Housing Instability - Mississippi Mississippi ERA Resources - Self-Attestation Income - Mississippi Minnesota ERA Resources - Self-Attestation Income - Minnesota Mississippi ERA Resources - Self-Attestation COVID Hardship - Mississippi Sarasota County, FL ERA Resources - Self-Attestation COVID Hardship - Sarasota County, FL West Virginia ERA Resources - Self-Attestation Lease - West Virginia Minnesota ERA Resources - Self-Attestation Lease - Minnesota Direct-to-Tenant Examples
Recent Treasury guidance requires programs using ERA2 to offer assistance directly to renters if landlords choose not to participate or are unresponsive. It also allows programs to provide assistance to renters first, without required outreach to landlords. The resources listed provide examples of documentation programs use to implement direct-to-tenant payments.Program Location Link Allegheny County, PA ERA Resources – DTT – Allegheny County, PA Cameron County, TX ERA Resources - DTT - Cameron County, TX Elkhart County, IN ERA Resources - DTT - Elkhart County, IN Texas ERA Resources - DTT - Texas New Orleans, LA ERA Resources - DTT - New Orleans, LA Applications Examples
Applications should be clear and simple to ensure accessibility for applicants with the greatest need. Applications may also embed self-attestations to reduce burdensome documentation requirements. The following applications offer examples of how programs can achieve clear and streamlined applications.Program Location Link Michigan ERA Resources - Tenant Application - Michigan Montgomery County, PA ERA Resources - Tenant Application - Montgomery County, PA Michigan ERA Resources - Landlord Application - Michigan Minnesota ERA Resources - Tenant Application - Minnesota Prioritization Examples
ERA programs must report on how they will meet the statutory requirement to prioritize households with the lowest incomes. The following resources provide examples of how programs are designing their programs to prioritize households with the greatest need. Other examples of prioritization can be found in a joint report from NLIHC and CLASP, Prioritization in Emergency Rental Assistance Programs’ to Better Serve Priority Populations. In addition to federal prioritization requirements, some programs are prioritizing specific populations to target those most in need. These populations include households whose incomes are at or below 30% of the Area Median Income, households with an active eviction status, single-parent households, and households that live in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Programs are also using data tools, such as the Urban Institute’Emergency Rental Assistance Priority Index to inform their program design and prioritization criteria.Program Location Link Tarrant County, TX ERA Resources - Prioritization Examples – Tarrant County, TX Austin, TX ERA Resources - Prioritization Examples - Austin, TX Oregon ERA Resources – Prioritization Examples - Oregon Other Innovations
ERA programs continue to release resources to increase program efficiency, facilitate program transparency, and ensure assistance reaches the most marginalized renters. The resources listed below include additional ERA innovations and examples that may inform program implementation elsewhere.
Program Location Link Texas ERA Resources - Program Changes- Texas Texas ERA Resources - Process Flow Chart- Texas North Carolina ERA Resources - Landlord Tenant Agreement- North Carolina -
ERA Guidance
Treasury
Read NLIHC's summary of the federal guidance here:
Frequently Asked Questions: Treasury's Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program
NLIHC Fact Sheets and Summaries
NLIHC has released fact sheets to summarize frequently asked ERA questions and program guidance changes. -
Research and Evaluation
ERA Program Reports and Evaluations
Program evaluations assess how successful a program was in meeting its stated goals. Evaluations can also identify shortfalls to avoid and successes to apply in future iterations of rental assistance programming. The following provides examples of evaluation reports released by emergency rental assistance administrators.Program Location Link Emergency Rental Assistance in Action: Stories from 2021/2022 Erase Cohort Members Illinois ERA Resources - Evaluation - Illinois King County, WA ERA Resources - Evaluation - King County Washington ERA Resources - Evaluation - Washington Riverside County, CA ERA Resources - Evaluation - Riverside County, CA NLIHC and Partners Research and Reports
NLIHC and its partners have released reports to highlight the state of emergency rental assistance, emergent best practices, and program recommendations. These reports contain frameworks, program examples, and case studies that may be useful in designing or adapting ERA programs. -
ERA Spending Tracking and Data
ERA Program Dashboards
Program data dashboards offer examples of transparency, regularly updated data that can inform program corrections and communicate program progress. The following links offer examples of how programs are providing real-time updates of program progress.Program Location Link Hawaii County, HI ERA Resources - Program Dashboard - Hawaii County, HI Cook County, IL ERA Resources - Program Dashboard – Cook County, IL Texas ERA Resources - Program Dashboard - Texas Fulton County, GA ERA Resources - Program Dashboard - Fulton County, GA Alaska ERA Resources - Program Dashboard - Alaska Maine ERA Resources - Program Dashboard - Maine California ERA Resources – Program Dashboard – California Rhode Island ERA Resources – Program Dashboard – Rhode Island
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Emergency Rental Assistance Spending and Performance Trends
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EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE CASE STUDY: Santa Clara County Homelessness Prevention System’s COVID-19 Emergency Homelessness Prevention Program
EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE CASE STUDY: Washington State Department of Commerce’s Eviction Rent Assistance ProgramFor more information, contact Sarah Gallagher, ERASE Senior Project Director, at [email protected].