During the most recent national “HoUSed: Universal, Stable, and Affordable Housing” call, we discussed the administration’s latest guidance for Emergency Rental Assistance programs. We also heard updates on the legal challenges to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) eviction moratorium. Participants received information on NLIHC’s tracking of emergency rental assistance (ERA) programs around the country, updates from Capitol Hill on the HoUSed campaign’s policy priorities, updates from the field, and more.
White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator and Senior Advisor to the President Gene Sperling and Erika Poethig of the White House Domestic Policy Council joined our call to share changes to emergency rental assistance program guidance (see Memo, 5/10). The latest guidance takes into account many of the recommendations provided to Treasury by NLIHC, based on the feedback received from state and local advocates across the country.
Eric Dunn from the National Housing Law Project shared his insights on the latest court ruling against the CDC’s eviction moratorium (see Memo, 5/10). A federal district court judge in Washington, DC ruled on May 5 that the CDC does not have the authority to issue a federal moratorium on evictions for nonpayment of rent. Within hours of the decision, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a notice of appeal and sought an emergency stay of the order. The judge in the case granted a temporary administrative stay and gave plaintiffs until May 12 to file a response.
NLIHC’s Rebecca Yae and Neetu Nair provided updates on implementation of state and local ERA programs. As of May 10, NLIHC had identified 319 emergency rental assistance programs funded through the $25 billion Treasury ERA program appropriated in the December 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The 319 programs account for over $18.65 billion of the funding allocated.
Malik Marshall of Arkansas Renters United and Billy Cook of Young Democrats of Arkansas discussed their joint effort to prevent evictions in Arkansas by creating a hotline for tenants and providing information about the federal eviction moratorium. Daniel Delfino of the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation and Andy Heidt of the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association shared their states’ efforts to disseminate emergency rental assistance to households in need. NLIHC’s Sarah Saadian gave the latest updates from Capitol Hill.
NLIHC hosts national calls every week. On today’s call, we will be joined by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Register for today’s call (Monday, May 17 at 2:30 pm ET) at: https://tinyurl.com/ru73qan
Watch a recording of the May 10 call at: https://tinyurl.com/wk4e6z68
Access presentation slides at: https://tinyurl.com/ytfbnwc5