In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling the Biden administration’s moratorium on evictions was unconstitutional, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is supporting a bill that aims to expedite federal rental aid to both landlords and tenants.
Pelosi praised the efforts by House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., in trying to reform the federal rental assistance program, and said during a call hosted by the National Low Income Housing Coalition that Waters was attempting to build a consensus behind the legislation, The Hill reported.
Waters wrote in a Dear Colleague letter last week that she plans to present the bill for mark up Sept. 13 and that the bill would require grantees “to accept the self-attestation of a tenant and to provide assistance directly to tenants in certain circumstances.”
It would also allow landlords to “directly apply for back rent after providing notice to their tenants that they intend to apply,” and the bill provides the Treasury Department an additional $25 million to “conduct additional outreach to prospective tenants and landlords.”
It would instruct grantees to conduct this outreach as well.
The most recent Treasury Department data show approximately 90% of the federal rental aid issued to states and localities has yet to be distributed, which, The Hill added, leaves about $40 billion from reaching people that might face eviction.
