Emergency Rental Assistance

Wyoming's Emergency Rental Assistance Program has given a lot of money to a lot of families in the last two years. But now that program is ending, having spent all the money it could.

For about a year and a half, nationwide eviction bans protected many tenants from losing their housing. But those bans have expired or been struck down and evictions are rising as a result.

A new version of the program, with less restrictive qualifications, is helping DFS dole out the money faster. But it might not be fast enough to keep the federal government from taking back a significant portion and regifting it to other states.

Gov. Mark Gordon responded to criticisms of Wyoming's emergency rental assistance program, arguing in a letter that the Equality State is actually leading the way, and that Congress could do more to help struggling homeowners, renters and the homeless.

Wyoming's Emergency Rental Assistance Program has awarded $4.7 million to more than 1,400 households. That money comes from a large pool of funding from the federal government. Recently, Wyoming and other small states were criticized for spending only a fraction of their funding so far. But Wyoming Public Radio's Jeff Victor spoke with Department of Family Services Director Korin Schmidt who said the program is accelerating after a rocky start. But that rocky start, Schmidt said, was necessary to get out as much assistance as possible to all the people who needed it.

The stakes have risen sharply to get rental assistance aid to struggling Americans on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ends the national eviction moratorium.

Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina wrote letters to Gov. Mark Gordon and four other governors, criticizing their states for spending less than three percent of their available rental assistance funds.

Northern Arapaho Tribal Housing is helping to disperse federal funds aimed at helping those impacted by COVID-19 make rent and utility payments.