The Government Is Helping People Pay Rent, But Something’s Gone Wrong

Yuliya Panfil and the New Practice Lab's Elizabeth Garlow wrote for Slate about difficulties surrounding the delivery of rental aid amid COVID-19.

Advocates and local governments say rent-relief distribution in 2020 was slow and inequitable, favoring those with connections and know-how over those most in need. That’s because local programs instituted strict eligibility criteria beyond what was required by the CARES Act—for example, stipulating that applicants must have been current on rent before the onset of the pandemic—and hefty documentation requirements, like asking tenants to produce multiple forms of identification, detailed proof of their changed income, and current copies of their lease.

As a result of these and other hurdles, 80 percent of the programs [the National Low Income Housing Coalition] surveyed cited incomplete applications as a major barrier to distributing funds. Subsequently, 11 of 15 rent assistance programs surveyed by NLIHC said gathering documentation was a point in the application process where applicants tended to drop out.

In Las Vegas, New America found that the county hired 13 nonprofits last spring and summer to screen tenants for funds, but each organization instituted its own criteria and documentation requirements. The result, a local attorney said, was that he had “never seen more difficulty giving away money” in his life.

Over the next few months, billions more dollars in rental assistance will make their way from the Treasury Department to states and counties, and finally to renters and landlords. It’s a chance for us to improve aid delivery, most importantly by becoming more flexible on documentation requirements.

Read about the ongoing challenge, and a few possible fixes to help the next round of aid distribution, here.