As congressional leaders are moving quickly to negotiate final details in a compromise COVID-19 relief package, including $25 billion in emergency rental assistance, for the next three months, advocates are urged to call their members of Congress TODAY to demand #RentReliefNow!
Your advocacy is urgently needed TODAY to ensure Congress includes in a final compromise bill robust housing and homelessness resources and protections!
Take Action TODAY!
Congress needs to hear from you about the need to protect renters and people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic.
We urge advocates to contact your members of Congress today to demand:
- At least $25 billion for 3 months of emergency rental assistance targeted to households with the lowest incomes who are at most at risk of losing their homes this winter.
- A broad, national eviction moratorium to keep renters in their homes when the federal eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expires on December 31.
- The highest level of funding possible for housing vouchers and Emergency Solutions Grants to address the urgent health and housing needs of people experiencing homelessness.
After you’ve contacted your members of Congress, please sign your organization onto the national letter urging the CDC to extend, strengthen, and enforce its eviction moratorium to keep renters in their homes during the pandemic. Share the letter widely with other local, state, or national organizations or elected officials. The due date for signatures is December 15.
Renters cannot wait any longer. Nearly one in five renters – disproportionately Black and Latino – have fallen behind on their rent during the pandemic. The CDC’s federal eviction moratorium expires on December 31 and renters will fall off a financial cliff when an estimated $34 billion to $70 billion in back rent becomes due. Without federal intervention, tens of millions of renters – predominantly people of color – could lose their homes this winter, with catastrophic consequences for children, families, communities, and our country’s efforts to contain the pandemic.
NLIHC’s top priorities for COVID relief include at least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance and housing vouchers, a strengthened national eviction moratorium, and $11.5 billion to respond to the needs of people experiencing homelessness.