Coronavirus Updates – March 21, 2022

National Updates

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

HUD announced on March 11 the award of nearly $70 million in Indian Community Development Block Grant-American Rescue Plan (ICDBG-ARP) grants to 49 Tribal communities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Department of the Treasury

Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 10 to highlight the city’s successful Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, Philadelphia ERA program leaders, and recipient tenants and landlords joined Deputy Secretary Adeyemo to highlight how the program set a national example early on with its robust eviction diversion program that requires landlords to apply for ERA before eviction proceedings can move forward. In February, Philadelphia’s eviction filings were down 66% relative to historical averages, according to data from Princeton’s Eviction Lab.

On March 14, Treasury released the reallocation amounts for ERA1 Round 2 Reallocation and Voluntary Reallocation.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

FEMA has provided over $2 billion in COVID-19 funeral assistance to support more than 300,000 applicants grappling with the financial stresses and burdens caused by the pandemic. FEMA is launching a new outreach campaign and continuing to process applications to ensure that the program reaches additional families in need. FEMA will target outreach to localities with high rates of COVID-19-related deaths, low funeral assistance application rates, and high scores on the Social Vulnerability Index.

State and Local News

California

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) announced on March 15 that it had received an additional $136 million in emergency rental assistance (ERA) from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. As of March 2022, the program has paid out more than $2.36 billion to assist more than 206,000 low-income households across the state.

California officials are urging people to apply for the state’s rental assistance program before the March 31 deadline. Approximately $1.6 billion in rent relief remains available.

CalMatters reports on a new study that finds only 16% of nearly half a million renters who applied for rent relief from the state of California have received their payments. According to the study – conducted by National Equity Atlas, Housing Now, and the Western Center on Law & Poverty – the number of people who have received payments is significantly lower than the number shown on the state’s public dashboard. California officials dispute the report’s findings, saying that the state dashboard – which reports that 191,000 households have been served and $2.2 billion paid – has the most up-to-date numbers.

Florida

United Way Suncoast released a housing crisis dashboard containing data about rental rates, eviction filings, and available emergency rental assistance in the Tampa Bay area. The dashboard covers five counties: Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas, Sarasota, and DeSoto. The data indicate that eviction filings have returned to pre-pandemic levels and that many two-income households in the area are severely rent cost-burdened.

After St. Petersburg distributed nearly all of the $16 million it received in federal emergency rental assistance (ERA) funds, the Pinellas County Board of Commissioners approved sharing $18 million in ERA with city residents. The county also expanded eligibility to include people who reside in motels and short-term hotels.

Massachusetts

The amount of emergency rental assistance (ERA) delivered by Massachusetts to renters continues to increase each month, indicating that many residents are still struggling financially two years into the pandemic. “The need remains,” said Chief Operating Officer of Metro Housing Boston Steve Farrell. “Even if COVID is going away, the housing crisis is not.” Nearly 23,000 households received ERA in February 2022, more than double the number that received ERA in April 2021.

Nebraska

Nebraska legislators introduced a bill to require the state to apply for the second round of emergency rental assistance (ERA), which the state must do by March 30. Governor Pete Ricketts said Nebraska will not apply for the second round because the funds are not needed. Legislators and advocates, however, say the first round of ERA was underutilized due to a lack of outreach and a cumbersome application system.

North Carolina

With more than 5,000 households awaiting aid, Cumberland County is expected to take over the administration of the Fayetteville Cumberland Rental Assistance Program (RAP) in April. The city and county had previously contracted administration to a private company, but the company did not renew its contract past the depletion of the program’s current funding.

Oregon

The Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program (OERAP) portal will remain open until March 21. The state was notified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on March 14 that it would receive $16 million in additional federal rent relief. Prior to the announcement that the state would be receiving additional funds, the OERAP portal was scheduled to stop accepting new applications on March 14.

Pennsylvania

U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo visited Philadelphia to celebrate the success of its emergency rental assistance (ERA) program. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf is calling on the state legislature to devote more federal funds to the program, which helps divert people out of the eviction court system and offers grants for landlord-tenant mediation.

Pittsburgh and Allegheny County’s joint Emergency Rental Assistance program, which has distributed more than $94 million in aid since it launched last year, will stop accepting applications after March 31. More than 30,000 county households have applied to the program, with about 15,000 having received at least one payment so far. Roughly $60 million in aid remains available, but program officials expect to spend those funds as the program winds down.

Lackawanna County was forced to return about $2 million in ERA to the federal government because it failed to meet Treasury’s expenditure deadlines.

Texas

Montgomery County returned $3.2 million in federal emergency rental assistance (ERA) funds to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The county’s remaining $7.7 million in ERA is held by four nonprofits, along with $2,000 in unobligated funding. The amounts held by three of the nonprofits were altered after a portion of the county’s ERA was recaptured.

Washington

Yakima County residents can now apply for emergency rental assistance using a secure online portal that launched on March 8. The portal makes the application process more accessible and efficient than the original program, which relied on in-person or phone appointments.

Washington, D.C.

The DCist reports that advocates in the D.C. region are working to ensure Latino families have access to critical resources, including emergency rental assistance. The biggest barrier to connecting immigrant families with resources is a lack of information about available programs.

Guidance

Department of Housing and Urban Development

COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Using EHV Data Between PHAs and CoCs