For Texan tenants and landlords struggling amid the ongoing pandemic, rent relief cannot come quickly enough. And, according to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, the state has now paid more than half of its available funds to residents in almost all Texas counties.
The state agency last week disbursed $ 755 million of its $ 1.3 billion in rental subsidies, which benefit more than 124,000 households. Approximately $ 40 million in funding has also been approved and is currently being paid out to applicants.
“The Texas Rent Relief program has cleared major hurdles, and our strong efforts to reach all Texans have been effective, reaching 92% of Texas counties in aid,” said Bobby Wilkinson, executive director of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. in a statement. “We have also partnered with other state agencies and organizations, such as the Texas Apartment Association and the Public Utilities Commission, to share information about available support and contact resources to ensure that those most at risk of eviction or power disruption get the help they need. “
About half of the total funding remains to be distributed, and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs said the biggest delay in providing funding to needy tenants was the lack of documentation required by federal regulations. According to the agency, documents from the applicant are missing for a third of the applications currently in the review process.
The housing agency ramped up its program in the first half of this year after the February winter storm in Texas and problems with property developers caused initial confusion and technical problems for tenants and landlords. Payouts have increased 650% since mid-May. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs hired more than 1,700 people to process applications during that time.
In North Texas, a number of organizations distribute rent relief in the millions to the city and county levels. Some utilities cover overdue rental and utility bills, as well as some future bills.
The US Supreme Court last month lifted the federal eviction ban, putting hundreds of thousands of renters at risk of losing their homes.
More than 170,000 households in Dallas-Fort Worth are behind with rent or mortgage payments, and 35% of those households say eviction or foreclosure is very likely or more likely in the next two months, according to survey data from the US Census Bureau the second half of August.
Housing advocates and legal experts in Texas expect a flurry of eviction suits in the coming months as landlords can again remove tenants from rental units. With rents soaring to record highs and pandemic-era benefits wiping out, evictions could have an outsize impact on Dallas’ black and Latin American neighborhoods, experts said.
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs said it was prioritizing requests from tenants whose landlords have filed for eviction. According to the agency, 12,700 applicants have already been evicted by the program.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, nearly 30% of all emergency rental aid provided by the federal government was paid out to US households. The organization has tracked 495 rental assistance programs across the country and oversaw the distribution of $ 25 billion in pandemic-related funding.
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