Overview

The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) aims to prevent evictions during the pandemic. ERAP was established in January of 2021 under the Consolidated Appropriations Act with an initial $25 billion investment to assist households that were unable to pay rent and utilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funds were directed to “eligible grantees” (states, territories, and local governments with more than 200,000 residents, and Indian tribes) to provide assistance through existing or newly created rental assistance programs. An additional $21 billion was authorized in the March 2021 American Rescue Plan.

While federal programs have long provided vouchers for low-income residents and targeted support for nonprofit organizations working with people experiencing homelessness, ERAP was the first program to offer emergency rental aid exclusively for those already in rental housing at risk of eviction. Because the goal of the program was rapid disbursement of funds in response to the emergency, Congress situated the program at the Department of Treasury, to benefit from its experience in moving quickly, rather than at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Implementation was slowed by grantees’ lack of technical resources. ERAP implementation was delayed in many states due to the lack of existing systems for verification and distribution of funds. Four months after the program’s creation, many states had not made an application available.¹ By late August 2021, only 11 percent of program dollars had been spent² and only 500,000 of 2.8 million applicants (less than .02 percent) had received aid.

Most grantees that were able to launch programs quickly built their own systems, often modifying an existing system (like a scholarship application) and sometimes using generic application forms. Several vendors offered common solutions across states. The most widely used provider, Neighborly, deployed assistance with over 300 grantees.³ Many smaller localities with fewer resources attempted to build their own solutions, often leading to further delays and complications. In Texas, a poorly designed website went down and stopped all aid during an ice storm, triggering a public outcry,⁴ until the state eventually opted to go with a Neighborly solution.

The program was successful in reaching many in need and preventing evictions. By the end of March 2022, Treasury reported that grantees had made over $4.7 million payments and had spent or made concrete commitments to spend nearly two-thirds of total funds.⁵ More than 80 percent of funds were reaching those most in need, and more than 60 percent of program beneficiaries were Black or Latinx.

In conjunction with a federal eviction moratorium,⁶ state moratoria, and other forms of aid, the ERAP program appears to have achieved many of its intended results. Evictions in 2021 were less than half of pre-pandemic averages.⁷ Even after the federal eviction moratorium ended on August 26 2021, evictions remained well below pre-pandemic averages through December 2021.

Program effectiveness and success varied by state and locality. Some states and localities were able to get up and running soon after the federal law passed; others took longer. Some states exhausted available funding, while others continued to have more resources than needed. In some localities, getting aid was a smooth process, with easy to use websites and minimal paperwork. In others, the online system was clunky, and applicants were required to produce multiple documents to prove eligibility. These varied implementation approaches and results provide lessons for future policy design.