Sharks in the Water: Renters on the Limits of Emergency Rental Assistance
As of summer 2022, the National Equity Atlas reported that rent debt was at “crisis levels.” Renter households collectively owe almost, at minimum, a massive $15 billion in back due rent. These households are overwhelmingly occupied by low-income renters of color.
This report describes renters’ experiences to highlight outstanding problems with the ERA implementation process. In particular, we share how corporate landlords have abused the system for profit. Though rent relief was supposed to combat housing insecurity, many landlords took the money and still evicted renters or lied about receiving the ERA money to collect payouts from both ERA and renters.
This report was written and researched by Abby Ang (Center for Popular Democracy). It was reviewed by Katie Goldstein, Maggie Corser, Amee Chew, Liliana Baiman, Sean Kornegay, and Julio López Varona. Graphic and visual design by Morgan Buck. Illustrations of tenants by Cori Lin.
We are deeply grateful to members of our advisory council for their guidance, expertise, and suggestions throughout this project:
Apryl Lewis and Jessica Moreno, Action NC
Trent Leon-Lierman and Alex Vazquez, CASA
Tea Sanders and Danielle Kassab, Detroit Action
Patty Torres and Myriam Ramirez, Make the Road Pennsylvania
Cynthia Norris, New York Communities for Change
Mitzi Ordoñez, Texas Organizing Project
We also thank Bree Newsome Bass (North Carolina Statewide Housing Justice Network), Ismaail Qaiyim (Queen City Community Law Firm, Charlotte Housing Justice Coalition), and Jay Malone (Texas Gulf Coast Area Federation) for their insights—particularly during the scoping process. We thank the members of the Center for Popular Democracy’s Housing Justice Cohort for their ideas, analysis, and encouragement.
We would especially like to thank Oscar, Hilda, Dion, James, and Deyanira for trusting us with their stories. Tenant interviewees’ first names are used to protect their anonymity.
Translation into Spanish by Luis López.