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Fried asks for rental assistance answers from DCF as $660M heads to chopping block

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Across the United States, the U.S. Department of the Treasury reported 510,000 households were helped and $2.8 billion distributed in September by Emergency Rental Assistance Program funds. Some Florida officials fear the state could lose $660 million in unused funds. The first ERA program, funded by the Coronavirus Relief Fund created through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, gave Florida $1.44 billion. The funding was shared between the state government, administered by the Florida Department of Children and Families, and municipalities to manage on their own. Siesta Key independence fight continues in shadow of hotel development ERA2, the second set of rental assistance money, was funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. It gave Florida another $526.6 million to Florida, also shared between the state and local governments. The Treasury Department reported that there have been more than two million payments made to households in need and more than $10 billion spent from January to September. State and local governments administered most of the money through various programs set up to control how it was spent. Intended as a measure to prevent evictions and provide financial aid to families as jobs ended and businesses closed, states were supposed to submit plans to the Treasury Department for how they would use the funds by Nov. 15, if they had not obligated a certain amount of the funds. Florida had spent roughly $648.8 million from the portion given to the state’s government for distribution and for municipalities from the ERA1 funding, as of October. It’s about 45% of the overall money awarded to the state, putting it into an uncertain future due to rules on funding reallocation set by the CARES Act. Tampa, Sarasota home prices rise over 25%, bigger increase than majority of US The Treasury released a reminder about those rules on Oct. 4. “Grantees that have not obligated at least 65% of their ERA1 funds – a measure that captures both spent and committed funds – must submit a program improvement plan. Grantees under the 65% obligation threshold must submit a program improvement plan by November 15 that identifies how they will accelerate their delivery of assistance to eligible tenants and landlords,” the Treasury directed. Recent reports from Florida Politics say it was not only unknown if a plan had been submitted, but questioned if a plan had ever even been drafted. Still, the deadline to submit the improvement plan came and went. Had Florida submitted a plan in time, they would have had 60 days to show the Treasury that they were making sufficient progress, or they’d lose 10% of the funds that had been deemed to be in “excess.” 25% of recent Tampa home purchases are by corporations, not people, study shows Without a plan, and 65% of the funds still awaiting obligation or award, some state leaders are asking DCF for answers. Nikki Fried, the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and a Democratic gubernatorial candidate for 2022, submitted a letter to DCF Sec. Shevaun Harris asking about the ERAP funding and the number of Floridians behind on rent or at risk of eviction. She said the state may lose up to $660 million in ERAP funding due to the “failure to timely communicate” with the Treasury. “As of this fall, 144,000 Florida households are at risk of eviction – more than 40% of the 357,000 households behind on rent,” Fried’s Dec. 6 letter reads. “Our state cannot afford to leave taxpayer funds on the table, especially money designated to help Floridians at risk of losing their homes during this uneven pandemic economic recovery.” Rent in Tampa & St. Pete skyrockets past Chicago, Philly, Austin Census data from the Household Pulse Surveys through Oct. 11 show that of respondents, 429,918 Florida households said they were behind on mortgage payments and 825,236 said they were behind on rent. The survey samples covered renter and owner-occupied housing units. At the same time, October rental data showed prices had risen as much as 34% in some parts of Florida. Mortgage prices were also on the rise.
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Written by: Sam Sachs