Baker-Polito Administration Announces Federal Funding Through Eviction Diversion Initiative
$80 million in rental assistance distributed to date; $400 million in new federal funding enables state to increase rental assistance to very-low and low-income renters, and cover utilities and other housing costs
BOSTON — Today,
the Baker-Polito Administration announced that more than $400
million in new federal funding from the Consolidated Appropriations Act is now
available through the Administration’s Eviction Diversion
Initiative (EDI). First launched in October 2020, EDI consists of a
comprehensive set of resources that serves individuals, families and
landlords in crisis with financial aid, free and low-cost legal aid
and community mediation to keep people in their homes. With a focus on
preserving housing stability, the Baker-Polito Administration has
distributed approximately $80 million in state rental assistance to more than
18,000 households since the beginning of the State of Emergency (data
available via public dashboard).
As a result of extensive coordination detailed
below, these efforts have contributed to the mitigation of the anticipated
crisis in evictions. Information tracked by the Massachusetts
Trial Court shows a total of 626 executions issued in residential
eviction cases from October 18, 2020 through March 28, 2021 for cases
filed after the state moratorium. This represents a reduction of nearly 85%
compared to the number of executions issued in residential eviction cases
during the same span of time one year prior (3,807).
The infusion of more than $400 million in
federal resources, which is expected to be supplemented by hundreds of millions
in additional dollars through the American Rescue Plan Act, allows the
Commonwealth to provide longer-term relief to low-income renters and landlords
in crisis, while implementing system efficiencies and processes for the future.
This additional funding, and the flexibility created by federal regulations,
enables the Commonwealth to expand aid to more households, provide deeper and
longer-term assistance to households, and help households with utility
payments. The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has been
investing heavily in and working closely with regional administering agencies
(RAAs) and the Rental Assistance Processing (RAP) Center to incorporate the new
Federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funding into existing
delivery service models for the Residential Assistance for Families in
Transition (RAFT) and Emergency Rental and Mortgage Assistance (ERMA)
programs.
“The ongoing public health crisis and the
economic consequences created by COVID-19 have made the importance of stable,
affordable housing a clear and vital component of our strategy to keep
households safe and healthy,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “This
major infusion of resources enables us to extend and strengthen our Eviction
Diversion Initiative, which supports both tenants and landlords in crisis to
keep more families safely housed. With more than $400 million available, we are
pleased this funding will enable us to respond to the immense need for support
right now, and make long-term investments in our homelessness prevention
programs.”
“We are pleased to provide additional funding
to the Eviction Diversion Initiative to further offset the impacts of
COVID-19. The pandemic has disproportionately affected lower income
communities and neighborhoods, and this new funding will provide longer term
support for households as we continue to work toward recovery,” said
Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “In keeping with our goal of meeting
residents where they are, these important resources will be more accessible to
our affordable housing providers and families eligible for shelter, and
will shield even more families from homelessness during this unprecedented
crisis.”
Funding Highlights include:
- Income eligibility – households making up to 80%
of Area Median Income (AMI) will be eligible for funding (RAFT has an
eligibility threshold of 50% of AMI).
- Longer-term assistance – households may be
eligible for up to 12 months of rental arrears (plus an extra 3
months of stipends for future rent if funding allows and need is
demonstrated), as well as overdue utilities arrears up to $1,500. All rent
and utility arrears must have been accrued after 3/13/20. Currently,
RAFT and ERMA can provide up to $10,000 per household for rental
arrearages or stipends.
- Prioritization of funds for those most at risk,
including those making less than 50% AMI and those unemployed for 90 days
or more.
In addition, DHCD, in partnership
with MassHousing and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP),
will launch a new program to allow qualified owners of income-restricted units,
as well as Local Housing Authorities, to apply for help directly on behalf of
all of their income-eligible residents with past-due rent. The Subsidized
Housing Emergency Rental Assistance (SHERA) program will expedite
relief for possibly tens of thousands of eligible tenants in need,
while also allowing administering agencies to concentrate on applications from
non-subsidized tenants in need of assistance.
Federal resources will also be made available
to families who are eligible for Emergency Assistance (EA) Shelter, by coupling
ERAP rental assistance benefits with the existing HomeBASE benefit
and housing services. This will help those who owe arrears and are at risk of
becoming unhoused, and also those who are exiting EA shelter and transitioning
into permanent housing. The Administration is also pursuing two pilot
initiatives: the first will allow municipalities to provide targeted outreach
and hands-on ERAP application support to communities with demonstrated need and
hard-to-reach populations, and the second provides targeted outreach
strategies to small landlords about the availability of ERAP and other state
financial assistance programs.
“Thanks to the hard work of DHCD and so many
partners, we’ve transformed how we support families facing an eviction or a
housing crisis during the pandemic. We’ve increased our dollar commitment, and
introduced new, comprehensive services like free and low-cost legal aid and
community mediation between tenants and landlords to help keep people
housed,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary
Mike Kennealy. “As we enter a critical stage of our economic
recovery, it is absolutely vital to ensure families have access to safe, stable
housing.”
“These additional resources, combined with
process improvements and expanded eligibility, have allowed us to adjust our
relief programs to match the urgency required by this public health crisis.
Over the last nine months, we have worked closely with our partners to create a
better application process for applicants and administering agencies,” said
Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Jennifer Maddox. “Thanks
to our partners in the Legislature, the Courts, and our network of advocates,
we’ve never been more ready to provide assistance to families in
need.”
"The addition of the federal dollars
means we can serve even more households struggling to pay their housing costs
and provide deeper resources to fully bridge the gap of what's needed to
stabilize tenancies," said Stefanie Coxe, Executive Director
of the Regional Housing Network of Massachusetts. "This helps us
further transform a homelessness prevention program into a disaster relief
fund.”
“The last year has shown how important our
homes are to our health and the health of our communities. Our state and local
governments have dedicated tremendous resources to help people pay their rent.
However, as unemployment persists, work hours change, and kids are not fully
back in school, federal funding is critical to keeping up with the need,” said
Rachel Heller, CEO of Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA). “This
new federal funding provides us with the resources we need to help people and
our neighborhoods stay stable through the pandemic.”
Over the last nine months, DHCD and partners
have worked to reduce paperwork, streamline the application process, implement
technology upgrades, and provide better language access. To increase capacity,
DHCD and regional agencies hired more than 200 new staff and created the new
Rental Assistance Processing (RAP) Center to lend added support with increased
applications across the state. DHCD is also working to expand access and
awareness with a public information campaign and targeted outreach to vulnerable
communities.
To address this immense increase in demand due
to COVID-19, DHCD worked with administering agencies to transform the RAFT
program from a narrow, homelessness prevention program into a comprehensive
disaster relief program to stabilize renters and landlords. The RAFT program
was more targeted in its aid, requiring a court summons or other evidence that
a household was facing an unstable situation, and was limited to $4,000 to
address a short-term crisis. In past years, with an annual budget of
roughly $20 million, RAFT served between five and six thousand households.
During this crisis, the state has already distributed about $80 million to more
than 18,000 households, more than tripling its annual output.
In February 2021 alone, the state
served a record 5,463 households, spending $21.1 million through
the RAFT program to keep them in their homes. By comparison, in
February 2020, the month before the start of the public health emergency, the
state issued $1.5 million in RAFT funds. February of 2021 represents
approximately a 1,300% increase in assistance over February of 2020. During the
first three weeks of March, the state distributed $23.6 million in RAFT
payments to 7,445 households, putting the Commonwealth on track for another
record month. Payments from those three weeks alone represent more than the
entire annual RAFT budget in any fiscal year before the current fiscal
year.
In addition, DHCD continues to see fewer
families enter and stay in the family shelter system compared to the previous
year. Family shelter caseload in February 2021 was down approximately 20%
compared to February 2020. Similar trends can be seen in
the HomeBASE program, with new participants since October down
between 30% and 60% each month compared to the preceding year. Moreover, while
there was an initial increase in post-moratorium eviction filings in November
and December, new weekly eviction filings for non-payment of rent have declined
and have remained consistently below pre-pandemic levels in Calendar Year 2021.
Additionally, this week, the Centers for Disease Control extended its eviction
moratorium through June 30, 2021.
The EDI effort combines financial assistance
with resources for renters and landlords to avoid an eviction. The COVID
Eviction Legal Help Project (CELHP), a partnership with the Massachusetts Legal
Assistance Corporation, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, and the Volunteers
Lawyers Project, provides free legal assistance to low-income households facing
an eviction, and free or low-cost assistance for low-income homeowners who live
in a home with rental units. Agencies have hired nearly 130 direct service
staff to increase capacity, and more than 200 lawyers have been recruited to
volunteer their time and expertise. To date, more than 1,000 cases have been
opened at legal aid organizations under this partnership. Additionally, with
the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration, professional, confidential
mediation services are available across the Commonwealth for tenants and
landlords to solve lease or other housing issues outside of the court
process.
