Federal Aid Is Failing to Reach Renters as Eviction Ruling Looms

(Bloomberg) -- State and local governments continued to struggle to disburse emergency rental assistance in July despite ramped-up efforts from the Biden administration to expedite payments.

Just $1.7 billion was released last month, bringing the total so far to $5.1 billion of the $46.5 billion appropriated by Congress to prevent evictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

The White House on Wednesday released a fact sheet outlining new guidance for state and local authorities that it hopes will help speed the process. It includes telling authorities they can rely on “self-attestation” during the public health emergency to declare an applicant eligible for assistance.

States are working against the clock to speed the delivery of aid payments before a moratorium on evictions is ruled on by the Supreme Court. 

The Biden administration has urged the court to keep in place a moratorium that has been challenged by landlords and real-estate trade associations from Alabama and Georgia.

Justices have already indicated they’re likely to be skeptical of the administration’s arguments. The court left intact a previous moratorium enacted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in June, but Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in casting the pivotal vote that congressional authorization would be required for any further extension.

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