TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — While money stopped flowing and workers lost their jobs or left them due to the COVID-19 pandemic, paying for a place to live became more difficult. In part of the country’s legislative solutions to the viral crisis, billions of dollars were funneled into state and local governments to prevent those out of work from becoming homeless.
That funding came in $46.5 billion allocated for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program through provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act passed under former President Donald Trump and the American Rescue Plan Act that passed under President Joe Biden.
Despite billions available for those in need, by all reports, only a fraction of the funds have been disbursed to applicants. Month-by-month, the funding has languished in the hands of states and local governments struggling to efficiently get the money to renters and landlords and homeowners working to pay their bills.
Based on the current data available, published in a compliance report by the U.S. Treasury Department, the following states make up the top five most funding awarded from January to July 2021:
- California, $2,610,593,356.30
- Texas, $1,946,983,604
- Florida, $1,441,188,973.40
- New York, $1,282,268,820.90
- Pennsylvania, $847,688,778.80
From the same data source, January to July 2021, those top five states have helped:
- 97,180 California households
- 184,525 Texas households
- 34,901 Florida households
- 3,110 New York households
- 50,359 Pennsylvania households
The data shows that among states with the highest levels of funding awards, New York and Florida have done the least with the most, in terms of families or households assisted compared to how many billions of dollars they received.
The state that’s helped the most households across the U.S. is Texas.
As of Aug. 25, according to a fact sheet released by the White House, while the number of families helped has increased month-by-month, the government will be taking additional steps to speed the delivery of the funds to families facing eviction or homelessness.
The compliance report from the U.S. Treasury shows that of the $46.5 billion allocated, roughly $24.2 billion has been disbursed.
“State and local agencies have provided approximately 1 million assistance payments to benefit households at-risk of eviction, and have spent more than $5.1 billion in ERA funding,” the White House fact sheet said.
From the $46.5 billion pot, that’s just under 11% of the funds available.
Answering the call for further assistance and speed, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture will increase its efforts to promote the ERA program in rural America, promising to contact “over 250,000 email subscribers, mailing 65,000 letters to un-assisted USDA tenants, providing hard copy materials in USDA state offices, and sharing information with key stakeholder groups at the national, regional and state levels.”
The USDA’s own release on the help provided so far paints a picture of how the efforts to connect tenants to funds has improved since May.
“The delivery of ERA is ramping up as a result of these efforts and the hard work of public servants in state and local governments across the nation. State and local programs have distributed more than $5 billion in assistance out of the $25 billion allocated under the first round of ERA (ERA1),” according to the USDA. “About 1 million payments have been made since January. In July alone, more than 340,000 households received $1.7 billion in rental and utilities assistance, up 15% from June, and more than double the number of households served in May.”
The release from USDA says that more than 60% of the families and households served make between 0 to 30% of their area’s median incomes. Still, the agency urged state and local governments to do more to help renters at risk of eviction, and the landlords who are strapped for cash as a result of missed payments.
The July compliance report shows the breakdown of how the funds were distributed and to how many households over the life of the program, beginning in January 2021.
| State | $ Jan.-March, 2021 | $ April 2021 | $ May, 2021 | $ June 2021 | $ July 2021 | Households Jan.-March, 2021 | Households April 2021 | Households May 2021 | Households June 2021 | Households July 2021 | Total $ Disbursed (Millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ala. | $.0 | $1.1 | $3.1 | $5.9 | $8.4 | 3 | 205 | 636 | 1,103 | 1,572 | $326.4 |
| Alaska | $.1 | $9.1 | $20.5 | $19.6 | $25.4 | 41 | 2,217 | 4,616 | 4,028 | 4,253 | $200.0 |
| Ariz. | $10.3 | $11.7 | $14.2 | $19.3 | $20.7 | 2,148 | 2,366 | 3,458 | 6,081 | 8,583 | $492.1 |
| Ark. | $1.1 | $1.1 | $1.1 | $2.4 | $4.9 | 377 | 677 | 277 | 745 | 1,468 | $201.0 |
| Calif. | $2.7 | $19.7 | $91.6 | $157.6 | $315.7 | 513 | 3,240 | 13,904 | 27,903 | 51,620 | $2,610.6 |
| Colo. | $6.2 | $6.3 | $8.2 | $21.5 | $26.2 | 967 | 1,126 | 1,797 | 4,407 | 4,393 | $385.1 |
| Conn. | $.0 | $1.2 | $4.8 | $16.5 | $22.9 | 190 | 765 | 2,083 | 2,760 | $235.9 | |
| Del. | $.0 | $.0 | $1.2 | $4.1 | $3.6 | 386 | 995 | 556 | $200.0 | ||
| Fla. | $7.2 | $18.6 | $39.5 | $49.9 | $59.3 | 1,771 | 3,633 | 7,940 | 9,142 | 12,145 | $1,441.2 |
| Ga. | $6.1 | $4.5 | $9.0 | $16.6 | $24.0 | 1,350 | 1,263 | 3,025 | 3,419 | 4,766 | $710. 2 |
| Hawaii | $2.5 | $3.5 | $14.0 | $18.3 | $21.1 | 431 | 495 | 1,769 | 2,357 | 3,356 | $202.4 |
| Idaho | $8.6 | $2.7 | $1.9 | $2.7 | $3.6 | 1,928 | 611 | 486 | 610 | 685 | $200 |
| Ill. | $2.8 | $30.9 | $17.6 | $129.5 | $122.4 | 2,394 | 1,603 | 2,653 | 14,634 | 14,802 | $834.7 |
| Ind. | $.1 | $2.2 | $10.1 | $12.8 | $20.8 | 35 | 662 | 2,916 | 3,987 | 6,450 | $447.9 |
| Iowa | $.5 | $3.9 | $5.2 | $4.9 | $5.4 | 741 | 794 | 557 | 1,950 | 1,891 | $209.8 |
| Kan. | $.2 | $.7 | $2.4 | $10.2 | $13.7 | 70 | 263 | 711 | 2,194 | 3,340 | $200.0 |
| Ky. | $12.7 | $15.2 | $13.6 | $11.5 | $13.1 | 2,454 | 3,047 | 2,665 | 2,140 | 2,803 | $296.9 |
| La. | $1.3 | $2.3 | $9.8 | $17.8 | $15.0 | 182 | 341 | 1,863 | 3,855 | 2,977 | $308.0 |
| Maine | $2.6 | $10.4 | $12.4 | $9.6 | $11.1 | 573 | 2,102 | 2,309 | 2,270 | 1,676 | $200.0 |
| Md. | $2.5 | $5.2 | $7.6 | $13.4 | $29.2 | 356 | 906 | 1,300 | 2,489 | 4,427 | $401.6 |
| Mass. | |||||||||||
| Mich. | $.7 | $11.4 | $28.8 | $36.4 | $46.2 | 99 | 1,761 | 4,546 | 5,602 | 7,069 | $660.9 |
| Minn. | $2.8 | $6.5 | $5.3 | $11.8 | $24.0 | 726 | 1,152 | 1,046 | 2,514 | 4,181 | $375.2 |
| Miss. | $.2 | $1.1 | $1.2 | $3.4 | $10.0 | 52 | 238 | 254 | 739 | 1,893 | $200.0 |
| Mo. | $71 | $4.8 | $8.1 | $16.0 | $20.7 | 1,677 | 1,277 | 2,324 | 3,643 | 4,895 | $407.9 |
| Mont. | $.0 | $.0 | $3.4 | $5.7 | $5.0 | 6 | 559 | 996 | 921 | $200.0 | |
| Neb. | $1.0 | $2.2 | $5.8 | $8.5 | $9.5 | 264 | 574 | 1,468 | 2,001 | 2,256 | $200.0 |
| Nev. | $4.4 | $2.2 | $11.7 | $18.1 | $24.2 | 772 | 373 | 1,905 | 2,856 | 3,564 | $208.1 |
| N.H. | $.4 | $6.3 | $8.3 | $8.5 | $6.6 | 73 | 908 | 1,252 | 1,452 | 1,244 | $200.0 |
| N.J. | $.0 | $.5 | $25.6 | $56.7 | $70.9 | 2,535 | 150 | 3,359 | 6,992 | 7,739 | $589.0 |
| N.M. | $4.4 | $.8 | $1.1 | $7.7 | $13.0 | 1,633 | 208 | 244 | 2,739 | 4,733 | $200.0 |
| N.Y. | $.0 | $1.1 | $4.5 | $4.3 | $8.5 | 419 | 654 | 887 | 1,150 | $1,282.3 | |
| N.C. | $29.4 | $10.1 | $18.0 | $45.7 | $83.6 | 27,109 | 3,881 | 6,041 | 15,197 | 27,594 | $703.0 |
| N.D. | $1.6 | $.6 | $.3 | $.9 | $1.2 | 1,170 | 532 | 312 | 384 | 715 | $200.0 |
| Ohio | $19.8 | $14.7 | $17.3 | $22.3 | $26.3 | 4,217 | 5,297 | 5,203 | 6,254 | 7,625 | $775.4 |
| Okla. | $.0 | $6.6 | $10.9 | $14.4 | $14.1 | 1,940 | 3,142 | 4,885 | 4,895 | $264.0 | |
| Ore. | $.2 | $.4 | $.0 | $2.7 | $10.2 | 80 | 92 | 3 | 644 | 2,115 | $281.3 |
| Pa. | $8.1 | $24.4 | $34.2 | $65.3 | $86.4 | 2,348 | 6,136 | 8,804 | 13,241 | 19,830 | $847.7 |
| R.I. | $.0 | $.1 | $2.3 | $5.5 | 6 | 262 | 969 | $200.0 | |||
| S.C. | $.8 | $1.5 | $5.5 | $7.1 | $10.6 | 234 | 2,064 | 1,197 | 1,427 | 2,131 | $346.0 |
| S.D. | $1.4 | $1.1 | $1.0 | $.6 | $.4 | 472 | 313 | 608 | 172 | 106 | $200.0 |
| Tenn. | $.2 | $2.3 | $8.3 | $20.9 | $18.1 | 72 | 751 | 2,154 | 4,051 | 4,542 | $456.7 |
| Texas | $31.0 | $109.9 | $149.9 | $374.1 | $222.1 | 9,699 | 24,427 | 29,905 | 69,841 | 50,653 | $1,947.0 |
| Utah | $2.2 | $10.7 | $11.4 | $11.6 | $9.4 | 623 | 1,935 | 2,218 | 2,481 | 2,112 | $215.5 |
| Vt. | $.0 | $.2 | $.9 | $4.2 | $6.6 | 126 | 773 | 1,953 | 3,536 | $200.0 | |
| Va. | $60.3 | $54.6 | $46.4 | $73.8 | $65.3 | 10,079 | 8,105 | 6,997 | 10,201 | 9,255 | $569.7 |
| Wash. | $.4 | $5.9 | $17.4 | $37.3 | $46.1 | 97 | 3,514 | 3,779 | 5,881 | 7,956 | $510.2 |
| District of Columbia | $19.8 | $4.6 | $8.5 | $32.2 | $25.8 | 2,654 | 2,782 | 3,379 | 6,705 | 7,039 | $200.0 |
| W.Va. | $.0 | $.9 | $2.1 | $5.2 | $5.0 | 152 | 527 | 583 | 1,279 | $200.0 | |
| Wisc. | $13.7 | $13.5 | $15.8 | $16.1 | $11.4 | 5,316 | 3,932 | 4,171 | 4,143 | 3,260 | $386.8 |
| Wyo. | $.0 | $.0 | $.1 | $.9 | $1.4 | 12 | 327 | 415 | $200.0 | ||
| US Virgin Islands | $.0 | $.0 | $.0 | $21.3 | |||||||
| Puerto Rico | $.0 | $.0 | $.0 | $.0 | $.0 | $325.0 | |||||
| Northern Mariana Islands | $.4 | 315 | $10.4 | ||||||||
| American Samoa | $.0 | $.0 | $.0 | $.0 | $9.7 | ||||||
| Guam | $.0 | $.3 | $.2 | $1.8 | $.7 | 57 | 42 | 30 | 131 | $33.6 | |
| Grand Total | $282.5 | $469.6 | $768.5 | $1,531.2 | $1,683.0 | 89,605 | 102,661 | 157,607 | 293,402 | 341,077 | $24,187.4 |
Efforts on national, state and local levels continue to work to provide relief to renters facing eviction. To find assistance in your community, you can search for resources online.