Looking for rental assistance?
Renters and landlords can find out what emergency rental assistance covers, how it works, and who’s eligible on the interagency housing portal hosted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Eviction diversion
Partnerships with Broader Eviction Diversion Programs
Many grantees have found that partnerships with the local court systems and legal services organizations are critical tools in preventing housing insecurity and helping landlords recover from built-up rental arrears. While the court systems and eviction processes vary across different states and localities, many grantees have found that proactively engaging with local courts, legal aid organizations, and other stakeholders involved in the eviction process can help to reach renters most at risk of housing instability. Many programs have developed systems where renters facing eviction in the court system have lower documentation requirements to prove eligibility for ERA funds.
Efforts by ERA grantees are sometimes complementary to the broader eviction diversion programs and play an important function in expediting ERA applications in cases where the landlord has already started the evictions process. Many of these eviction diversion efforts seek to avoid eviction at the earliest stage of the process and often incorporate support from legal service professionals and eviction mediators. Some ERA grantees have found that court data can also inform targeted outreach efforts to landlords and/or high-need geographic areas.
Focus on mediation
The State of Massachusetts
The State of Massachusetts has developed a two-tiered eviction process that has integrated the ERA program into eviction proceedings. In the first tier, landlords and tenants work with a mediator who can direct them to ERA resources to cover qualified rental arrears. This state-funded program also engages with legal aid services, as well as housing reinstatement services for those cases where tenants ultimately experience eviction.
Focus on data sharing with local courts
The city of Memphis and Shelby County, TN
The city of Memphis and Shelby County’s joint program has developed a data sharing relationship with the local court system. This partnership allows for ERA program administrators to have real-time information about neighborhoods with increased numbers of evictions. This information supports more targeted tenant and landlord outreach activities. Using this data, the ERA program administrators have been able build relationships with larger apartment complexes, leading to direct engagement with tenants on the premises. Memphis and Shelby County have also contracted with a local nonprofit organization with experience providing legal services to tenants facing evictions, helping them to reach settlements and avoid evictions. Further grantee efforts to expand access to legal services include engaging with volunteers from the local law school in order to extend tenants’ access to legal services. The Memphis and Shelby County ERA program expedites ERA applications that come through these channels, which has allowed many households to use ERA funds to stay in stable housing when faced with imminent eviction.
The city of Philadelphia, PA
The city of Philadelphia’s ERA program is also integrated directly into the city’s eviction court system. The court requires defendants to apply for the city’s ERA program before allowing the eviction to proceed. Further, all landlords who enroll in the city’s ERA program are automatically enrolled in the eviction diversion system, alerting them to the resources offered by the city to help avoid tenant evictions, such as nonprofit mediation services.
Focus on a multi-faceted approach
The city of Louisville, KY
Louisville, KY is utilizing a multi-pronged approach to eviction diversion that includes legal representation for tenants, community based outreach, and collaboration with local courts. The city has allocated $400,000 of their ERA funding to enact a right to counsel program for tenants with children who are facing eviction. Their Office of Resilience and Community Services has partnered with the Office of Women, Office of Housing, Neighborhood Place, and the Coalition for the Homeless to target and reach out to Louisville residents at risk of eviction. The collaboration with the Office of Women was born out of the recognition that female led households, especially those headed by African-Americans, are disproportionately targeted for eviction. Outreach includes knocking on doors, sending texts, and making phone calls to encourage these tenants not to miss their court dates. Staff also attend eviction court on a daily basis and can coordinate with the judges to stay eviction for tenants who could benefit from emergency rental assistance. To aid tenants who “self-evict”, by moving when they receive an eviction notice, the city has put in place a rapid-rehousing program that provides a rental deposit and the first month’s rent to help people relocate.
To avoid eviction tenants must present a completed CDC Eviction Protection Declaration, or an eviction protection form provided by their State, to their landlord. Make sure that applicants to your program know this and submit the appropriate form.
Eviction diversion maturity levels
The following maturity model can help grantees shape a strategy and have actionable steps to address eviction diversion. A maturity model is a tool that helps organize strategy, practices, and process into a framework that can act as a blueprint for building up stronger capabilities. This model is intended to aid you in determining which stage of development your program is at and how to iterate and improve aspects of your program to become more robust and comprehensive so that you can be effective in stabilizing households.
Disclaimer: The practices referenced in this model may contemplate the leveraging of ERA funding with other federal, state, and local resources. The model’s reference to an example practice should not be construed as confirming such practice’s eligibility for any particular type or category of federal funding. Grantees should consult the governing federal program authorities for additional guidance before expending funds for such purposes to confirm eligibility.
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Eviction Diversion Maturity Model
The maturity model is also provided in a PDF to take away and use your with team to discuss strategies and approaches
Resourcing & shaping programs
Starting
Leverage existing system assets
Utilize existing system resources, programs, staff, and community organizations to help manage and shape the program.
Practices might include:
- Listen to community organizations and advocates and host conversations
- Utilize existing system resources, programs, staff, and contract vehicles to help manage the program
- Use fact-specific proxy and categorical eligibility to expedite processing assistance
- Apply for HUD grants to support legal aid for tenants at risk of eviction
Emerging
Build with the community
Listen to local residents to understand needs; leverage partners outside the traditional housing system; and determine how to best use funding sources.
Practices might include:
- Listen to local residents to understand needs
- Leverage partners outside the traditional housing system to help deliver services and outreach, e.g. Libraries and faith-based organizations
- Determine how to best use funding sources
- Establish living experience groups for continuous feedback
Adapting
Prepare for volume of evictions
Automate and optimize processes with tech and data; Connect directly with tenants before court; Expedited rental payments.
Practices might include:
- Hire data scientists and technologist to manage processing systems
- Use ERA funds to staff up legal assistance for housing court programs
- Develop capacity and means to immediately connect with tenants who are on the docket for eviction to facilitate pre-eviction interventions
- Create a payment vehicle that can quickly send out rental assistance to prevent eviction, even if ERA application is still being processed
Maturing
Sustain for the future
Plan and prepare for the systemic housing challenges after evictions.
Practices might include:
- Create a sustainability plan for longevity of the eviction diversion program beyond ERA
- Set up displacement resources and funds for households that have been evicted
- Pool funding from justice, health, and housing services to create a accountability and shared resources for housing stability
- Create a review process where households can have evictions removed from their records
Tenant interventions
Starting
Do community-based outreach
Work closely with trusted community sources and people to get the word out about rental assistance.
Practices might include:
- Reach out to populations at high risk of eviction
- Work closely with local housing advocates and organizations
- Inform tenants about any locally-based eviction moratorium and alert them that they may need to give a form to their landlord
- Debunk common myths on ERA
- Follow up directly with tenants who are missing documentation but have started applications
Emerging
Use aimed outreach
Increase awareness and accessibility through a portfolio of partners and approaches to connect with specific high risk populations.
Practices might include:
- Use data-informed/targeted outreach to high risk households and households being evicted
- Share information through a diverse portfolio of channels (digital, media, door to door, peer to peer; clinics, Facebook live, etc.)
- Partner with grassroots organizations to deliver services related to housing stability
- Provide in-person assistance for people who are not able to navigate the site on their own (office or their homes)
- Use place-based outreach (i.e., grocery stores, clinics, etc.)
Adapting
Connect to options
Provide information and pathways to services that can help stabilize tenants and their housing while in crisis.
Practices might include:
- Court-based interventions/connections to services and education
- Connect tenants to a housing counselor
- Deliver wrap-around services supporting the social determinants of health
- Offer a hotline for legal aid across agencies and include phone number on eviction notices
- Provide information about legal aid and resources online
Maturing
Advocate for and empower
Provide education, guidance and legal representation on housing rights before and during eviction process.
Practices might include:
- Provide legal representation in court and consistent advocacy throughout the process
- Establish educational centers/courses that are accessible and promoted even before eviction begins
- Provide a universal and codified right to counsel for tenants
Landlord & property manager interventions
Starting
Accept ERA applications from landlords
Encourage and give tools or processes to landlords that helps them be a proactive applicant.
Practices might include:
- Encourage applications from landlords even if tenants have not applied
- Accept documentation provided by landlords on a tenant's behalf
- Require a landlord's agreement not to evict assisted tenants for nonpayment of rent for at least 30-90 days as a condition to receiving ERA assistance
- Make bulk ERA payments to landlords to expedite payment processing
Emerging
Use aimed outreach
Increase awareness through partnerships with real estate, homeowners and property managers groups.
Practices might include:
- Leverage local community organizations to publicize ERA (i.e., real estate groups and property management resource centers)
- Message the community benefits of keeping people in their homes and the important role that housing providers play
- Outreach and messaging so landlords know they are included in "rental assistance"
Adapting
Engage and educate
Encourage landlords to honor eviction moratorium and provide information that can help proceed.
Practices might include:
- Establish strong local eviction moratoriums
- Establish court-based educational opportunities and courses
- Target housing providers of large buildings in low-income areas and encourage them to apply for emergency rental assistance
Maturing
Incentivize and support
Provide immediate financial assistance to reduce the burden on landlords and offer recognition for service provided to the community.
Practices might include:
- Reduce financial burden on property managers and landlords and provide immediate assistance or temporary funds
- Provide a court order for landlords to seek assistance before being able to file for an eviction of tenants
Relationship-based interventions
Starting
Advocate for early communication
Create messaging and outreach that encourages early and transparent communication between parties.
Practices might include:
- Require landlords to provide tenants sufficient notice of eviction, dollar amount owed, and information on where to find rental assistance
- Encourage landlords to inform their tenants about emergency rental assistance
- Remind landlords that evicting tenants prevents them from collecting rental arrears via ERA programs
Emerging
Create connected applications
Create an application process that connects tenants and landlords easily and makes transparent each parties part.
Practices might include:
- Create connectivity on the backend to connect landlord and tenant applications by street address for system integrity and expedited processing
- Create incentives for landlord/tenant cooperation in application (i.e., communicate expedited processing time)
Adapting
Build bridges between parties
Provide mediation services between tenants, landlords, and property managers.
Practices might include:
- Offer landlord/tenant mediation before eviction process (as a preventative measure) and during eviction process
- Landlord walks away with tenant payment plan
- Connect advocacy groups of both parties to participate in the mediation process
Maturing
Incentivize resolutions
Change property management and eviction courts incentives in order to reward dismissal of evictions.
Practices might include:
- "Loan programs" where tenant pays back local government what they owe landlord; government pays landlord to reduce burden/delay with payment plan
- Change success metric and incentives for courts, properties, and lawyers so that they are rewarded for dismissal of evictions
- Offer landlord/tenant mediation before eviction process (as a preventative measure) and during eviction process
Prioritize eviction cases for ERA
Starting
Flag tenants in imminent danger of eviction
Prioritize tenants for emergency rental assistance who face immediate evictions.
Practices might include:
- Ask tenants to attach an eviction notice, if they have one, to their application
- Prioritize processing applicants who receive an eviction or utility shut off notice while waiting for a decision on their application
Emerging
Involve courts to address eviction crisis
Connect ERA grantees with courts processing evictions so they can collaborate to assist eligible tenants.
Practices might include:
- Establish MOU between courts and ERA grantee
- Check to see if people at eviction court have applied for emergency rental assistance or are eligible
- Help courts increase their digital capacity
- Use legal service providers to flag upcoming cases on the eviction docket that are likely candidates for rental assistance
- Pause hearing eviction cases until their ERA applications are processed
Adapting
Partner to expedite
Work with multiple partners to optimize collaboration to connect with tenants missing documentation and on the eviction court docket.
Practices might include:
- Establish MOU/data sharing agreements among the entire ecosystem of providers
- Connect with at-risk people who are missing documentation
- Make public prioritization and processing times
- Create accessible databases that partners can access on their own without having to go through partner parties
Maturing
Proactively address
Share data across the system to create shared understanding and automated processes that allows grantees to better prioritize and connect with tenants.
Practices might include:
- Connect different data streams to knowledge base/case management system with input from different data streams
- Use analytics to pull applications to the top- prioritizing people who are behind on utilities/other risks
Guidance
What steps can ERA grantees take to prevent evictions for nonpayment of rent?
Treasury strongly encourages grantees to develop partnerships with courts in their jurisdiction that adjudicate evictions for nonpayment of rent to help prevent evictions and develop eviction diversion programs. For example, grantees should consider: (1) providing information to judges, magistrates, court clerks, and other relevant court officials about the availability of assistance under ERA programs and housing stability services; (2) working with eviction courts to provide information about assistance under ERA programs to tenants and landlords as early in the adjudication process as possible; and (3) engaging providers of legal services and other housing stability services to assist households against which an eviction action for nonpayment of rent has been filed.
Can grantees prohibit landlords from pursuing eviction for nonpayment of rent for some period after receiving ERA assistance?
With respect to landlords that receive funds under an ERA program for prospective rent, the grantee must prohibit the landlord from evicting the tenant for nonpayment of rent during the period covered by the assistance.
In addition, with respect to landlords that receive funds for rental arrears, to promote the purpose of the program the grantee is encouraged to prohibit the landlord from evicting the tenant for nonpayment of rent for some period of time, consistent with applicable law.
In all cases, Treasury strongly encourages grantees to require landlords that receive funds under the ERA, as a condition of receiving the funds, not to evict tenants for nonpayment of rent for 30 to 90 days longer than the period covered by the rental assistance.
White House Eviction Prevention Summit
On June 30, 2021 the White House hosted a first of its kind virtual Eviction Prevention Summit. The Summit included two parts: a public plenary on best practices on eviction prevention and a series of breakout sessions for local public officials, court officials, legal services organizations, local bar associations, community-based organizations, landlord associations, tenant advocates, emergency rental assistance administrators, and local philanthropies representing 46 cities across the country to develop eviction prevention action plans for their local areas.