U.S. rental aid program obligated $25 billion in 2021-Treasury

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday that its Emergency Rental Assistance Program spent or obligated more than $25 billion in 2021 to help eligible Americans stay in their homes, with over 80% of the total going to very low-income households.

The Treasury, releasing demographic data on the program for the first time, said that during the fourth quarter of 2021, more than 40% of primary applicants receiving assistance self-identified as Black, and more than 20% as Latino

Female-headed households accounted for nearly two-thirds of rental assistance during the quarter, according to the Treasury data. Research by Princeton University’s Eviction Lab shows similar rates of eviction proceedings against these groups, Treasury said.

U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement that the $46.6 billion program created in COVID-19 aid acts passed in December 2020 and March 2021 was aimed at preventing an eviction crisis among the most vulnerable.

He said the data show that “the vast majority of rental assistance has gone to keeping the lowest-income families in their homes during the pandemic.”

The program, which got off to a slow start as local communities scrambled to create infrastructure for approving aid, disbursed $20.6 billion during 2021, with about $2.4 billion disbursed during December.

It defines “very low income” as people earning 50% of an area’s median income or below.

(The story corrects source of Treasury data on female-headed households, third paragraph.)

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)