States and localities have only distributed 11% of the tens of billions of dollars in federal rental assistance, the Treasury Department said Wednesday, the latest sign the program is struggling to reach the millions of tenants at risk of eviction.
BOSTON — States and localities have distributed only 11% of the tens of billions of dollars in federal rental assistance, the Treasury Department said Wednesday, the latest sign the program is struggling to reach the millions of tenants at risk of eviction. The latest data shows that the pace of distribution increased in July over June and that nearly a million households have been helped. But with the Supreme Court considering a challenge to the federal eviction moratorium, the concern is that a wave of evictions will happen before much of the assistance has been distributed. Some 3.5 million people in the U.S. as of Aug.16 said they face eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. Lawmakers approved $46.5 billion in rental assistance earlier this year, and most states are distributing the first tranche of $25 billion. According to the Treasury Department, $5.1 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance has been distributed by states and localities through July, up from $3 billion at the end of June and only $1.5 billion by May 31. Several states, including Virginia and Texas, have been praised for moving quickly to get the federal money out. But many others have still only distributed a small percentage of the rental help. North Carolina ranks sixth nationally in terms of the money distributed and second in terms of the number of people helped, state officials said Wednesday. The Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions Program, or HOPE, has distributed more than $342 million in rent and utility payment to 96,944 North Carolina households since opening last fall. “We are able to get from application to payment to a landlord within 14 to 19 days,” said Laura Hogshead, chief operating officer for the state Office of Recovery and Resiliency, which oversees the HOPE program. Housing advocates blame the slow rollout nationally partly on the Treasury Department under President Donald Trump, which they say was slow to explain how the money could be spent.
