Emergency Rental Assistance Reduced Eviction Filings in Vulnerable Neighborhoods During the Pandemic

By Tori Bourret, NLIHC Manager, State and Local Innovation Outreach  

A working paper published by researchers at the University of California, Berkley, “Targeting Assistance and Preventing Eviction: Tract-Level Analysis of ERA Distribution and Impact,” found that the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funds were largely distributed to neighborhoods with higher shares of Black, Asian, and unemployed households and to neighborhoods with households at the highest risk of evictions. However, the amount of ERA funding distributed within these neighborhoods did not always match the level of need. The authors also found that neighborhoods that received higher amounts of ERA funding saw fewer eviction filings during the pandemic. The research suggests that ERA mostly achieved its intended result, which was to target aid to vulnerable renters to prevent eviction filings and decrease housing instability during a national public health emergency. 

The purpose of the study was to explore whether ERA reached neighborhoods most in need and to understand what impact ERA had on eviction filings. To determine if ERA reached neighborhoods in need, the authors tested whether the total ERA dollars distributed to each neighborhood (i.e., census tract) could be explained by neighborhood eviction and displacement risks, unemployment rates, neighborhood demographics, and certain tenant protections.  

In the second analysis, the authors tested whether neighborhoods that received greater total dollars of rental assistance experienced greater reductions in eviction filings by comparing eviction filings during the pandemic to pre-pandemic levels. The authors also examined the effect of other variables on eviction filings, including racial composition, income inequality, unemployment, education levels, state level tenant protection policies, and the share of rent-burdened households.

In exploring where ERA went, the authors found a positive relationship between neighborhood eviction risk and the total ERA dollars in every state except Idaho. However, the relationship between displacement risk and ERA disbursement was not statistically significant. Neighborhood demographics were strongly linked to ERA distribution. Neighborhoods with higher shares of Black and Asian residents, higher shares of renters, and higher unemployment rates received greater levels of ERA funds. Despite ERA funds reaching these communities, there appeared to be a diminishing responsiveness to need in neighborhoods with the greatest vulnerabilities. Neighborhoods with the highest eviction risk and high unemployment received disproportionately fewer ERA funds. 

In the second analysis, higher ERA payments were associated with greater reductions in eviction filings during the pandemic, with the strength of the association varying across states. Neighborhoods with higher shares of Black, Hispanic or Latino, and rent-burdened residents experienced fewer eviction filings during the study period compared to the two years prior. This outcome is likely due to pandemic-era policies that protected vulnerable renters from evictions. ERA funds had stronger impacts on reducing eviction filings where renters had fewer tenant protections, shorter moratoria periods, and larger shares of populations vulnerable to evictions. This outcome is likely due to ERA funds acting as a more significant eviction-prevention tool in places without other protections. 

These findings suggest that ERA was distributed to neighborhoods most in need, with higher eviction risk associated with more ERA dollars. Thus, one program goal, to distribute funds to communities most in need, was largely met. Neighborhoods with the greatest needs, however, may not have received sufficient amounts of ERA funds because of program limitations; their needs exceeded what was available. The research also suggests that areas with little to no tenant protections can benefit greatly from ERA programs, which potentially act as a safety net to protect renters from evictions.  

The study is available here.