Throughout the pandemic, National REIA has done its best to encourage housing providers to work with their tenants and share resources – especially the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. However, a recent article in The Wall Street Journal (reposted on Realtor.com) said that billions in Covid-19 aid has been slow to reach renters and landlords because state and local agencies disbursing federal rent relief have never had to allocate such huge sums so quickly. They say this is leaving many tenants and landlords waiting weeks or months to get their share. Back in December, as part of pandemic relief, $25 billion in federal funds were allocated to states, cities and counties to cover up to 12 months of back rent and three months of future rent for folks who fell behind. Both tenants and landlords can apply for the money. It should also be noted that an additional $20 billion was allocated in March.
“State and local governments around the U.S. are scrambling to launch programs to handle the nation’s largest-ever emergency rental-assistance effort, intended to help an estimated 13 million people. Their challenges are similar to those faced in administering Covid-19 testing and vaccine rollouts with resources provided by the federal government.”
Click here to read the full story at Realtor.com
Click here to read the full story at the Wall Street Journal.
