After months of negotiations, Congress approved a COVID-19 relief package that extends the national eviction moratorium until January 31, 2021. It also provides $25 billion in funds for emergency rental assistance, funded through the Coronavirus Relief Fund and administered by the US Department of the Treasury. The funding will be distributed to state and local governments, and then eligible renter households and landlords can apply for assistance to cover past and future rent arrears and other associated housing costs.

This assistance has the potential to reach the many millions of renter households who were cost burdened before the pandemic and financially squeezed even tighter during this crisis. Back rent estimates alone range from $7 billion to more than $70 billion, so $25 billion is not nearly enough to cover all renters’ needs and keep them protected from housing instability and eviction. That’s why effectively targeting this funding will be critical. If state and local leaders want to implement emergency rental assistance equitably and efficiently, they should adopt these three principles.

  • Principle 1: To curb the public health risks of housing instability, distribute rental assistance to renters most vulnerable to COVID-19’s health and economic impacts.
  • Principle 2: Administer funding through existing channels and set aside money for small landlords.
  • Principle 3: To ensure long-term stability, couple relief dollars with other supportive services.

Read the full article about emergency rental assistance by Kathryn Reynolds, Aaron Shroyer, and Monique King-Viehland at Urban Institute.