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The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it will double the size of its eviction protection program, which seeks to finance legal assistance for tenants who owe months of rent and seek to stay in their homes.
HUD grant of $20 million, will not provide any type of direct rent relief; instead, it will fund legal services and representations for families facing eviction orders.
Funds can also be used to help landlords access to emergency rental assistance and generally help reduce the number of cases in which eviction courts across the country.
The grant program is expected to help minorities in particular
, who are disproportionately represented among those evicted, as well as renters with limited English proficiency and people with disabilities, the department said.
Funds will be allocated through the Eviction Protection Grant Program a 10 non-profit organizations and government entities, with grants that range from $1 million to $2.4 million.
Recipients of the new wave of funding include Pine Tree Legal Assistance of Portland, Maine, and the city of San Antonio, Texas.
Last November, HUD had already allocated grants to other 05 organizations, with what they now add up to 21 which will be able to provide this service.
This expansion will support state, regional and additional locations in the northeastern, southern, and western United States.
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge described the new funding as duplicating a proven approach to alleviate the financial damage caused by the covid pandemic-19.
“We need to keep doing everything we can to help the help people maintain quality housing,” Fudge said in a statement.
“We know that access to legal services and eviction diversion programs work. It helps people avoid evictions and protects the rights of tenants,” he added.
According to the Evictions Lab tracker, from the Princeton University, so far this year there has been a worrying trend of increasing rate of eviction filings.
The tracker indicates that in six states and 31 cities the owners have requested 855,963 evictions since mid-March 2020.
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