How to get rental assistance: Ways to help keep your home

Rental assistance is an option for people who are at risk of being evicted from a rented home. Therefore, we tell you how you can obtain different types of rental assistance.

1. Emergency Rental Assistance Program

The Emergency Rental Assistance Program, or ERAP, is a rental assistance initiative that subsidizes people who do not have the resources to pay rent or utilities. It does this through two programs that work independently: ERA1 and ERA2.

The ERA1 was created in December 2022, and has a fund of $25 billion dollars. ERA2 was founded in March 2021 with a budget of $21.5 billion dollars. In both cases, funds are given directly to states, local governments and Indian tribes to provide assistance to eligible candidates.

2. CARES Act Eviction Protection to avoid losing a home due to failure to cover rent

The CARES Act, or Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, was approved on March 27, 2020, as a way to prevent thousands of people from becoming homeless due to the economic impacts caused by the health restrictions resulting from the pandemic.

This law specified that tenants who rented a property could not be subject to an eviction notice for at least three months, retaining the rule that tenants must receive at least 30 days notice before eviction. In 2022, this law will continue to apply to students.

3. Eviction extension

The temporary eviction extension began in 2022, and will continue at least June 30, 2022 in some states. Between April 1 and June 30, 2022, the law will prevent landlords from getting an eviction order in cases where the tenant has applied for government housing assistance.

The temporary eviction extension is a rental aid that helps in cases where the tenant has asked for aid under the Violence Against Women Act, the rural housing program or if someone has applied for a mortgage or loan for the house.

4. American Rescue Plan for help with rent money

The American Rescue Plan has an emergency fund of $21.55 billion dollars to distribute between landlords and tenants, and thus provide rental assistance. This service will be covered once the money has been distributed among the different states.

This plan has the following budget: $5 billion dollars in vouchers for emergency housing through September 30, 2030; $750 million in tribal housing; $100 million for rural housing, and $5 billion for assistance to homeless people.

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