U.S. Department of the Treasury
Renters and landlords can find out what emergency rental assistance covers, how it works, and who’s eligible on the interagency housing portal hosted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Emergency Rental Assistance Program
Keeping Families in their Homes
Treasury’s Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) programs have collectively provided communities over $46 billion to support housing stability for eligible renters throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participating governments have leveraged ERA funding to make over 10 million assistance payments to renters facing eviction, and research has shown that ERA assistance has supported low-income renters and renters of color. Combined with other Administration initiatives, Treasury’s ERA programs have helped to prevent millions of evictions since the onset of the pandemic.
Two separate ERA programs have been established: the ERA1 program was authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and provided $25 billion to assist eligible households with financial assistance and housing stability services. The ERA2 program was authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and provides $21.55 billion to assist eligible households with financial assistance, provide housing stability services, and as applicable, to cover the costs for other affordable rental housing and eviction prevention activities. Financial assistance can include the payment of rent, rental arrears, utilities and home energy costs, utilities and home energy costs arrears, and certain other expenses related to housing. ERA funds are provided directly to states, U.S. territories, certain local governments 1 , and in the case of ERA1, Indian Tribes or their Tribally Designated Housing Entities and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
1 In accordance with the ERA1 and ERA2 statutory requirements, only local governments with more than 200,000 residents are eligible to receive an ERA1 and ERA2 award from Treasury. See 15 U.S.C 9058a.(b)(1) and 15 U.S.C 9058c.(b)(1).
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Questions?
Program recipients with questions about reporting, technical issues, eligible uses of funds, or other items visit the self-service resources.
Self-Service Resources
Highlighted Program Resources
Treasury offers a variety of guidance and resources to support successful ERA program implementation and increase program transparency such as:
- Policy Guides: Program Guidance, FAQs, Reporting, & Award terms
- Resources for Enhancing Program Effectiveness: Program & service design & Promising Practices
Recent updates
August 2024
- Guidance: On May 30, OMB published the Compliance Supplement. To view the relevant section on the Treasury website please see the 2024 ERA Compliance Supplement.
- Reporting: August 16, 2024, Treasury released ERA2 Cumulative Program Data: Q2 2021 – Q1 2024.
- Research: On August 9, Treasury updated the Research and Evaluation webpage with a working paper by economist from Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board that finds that “ERA was largely successful in reaching communities that were most likely to have the highest risk of eviction.”
May 2024
- Research: On May 24, 2024, Treasury launched a Research and Evaluation webpage that highlights how Treasury is researching the impact of economic recovery programs and how to apply lessons learned to future economic crises.
March 2024
- FAQs: On March 5, 2024, Treasury updated its FAQs and sent a notice to ERA2 grantees to clarify that grantees may use their ERA2 award funds to cover expenses for the acquisition of real property and predevelopment activities to enable construction, rehabilitation, or preservation of affordable rental housing projects serving very low-income families.
February 2024
- Research: On February 8, 2024, Treasury and the federal Office of Evaluation Sciences (OES) released new research on streamlining income verification to broaden access to rental assistance.
December 2023
- Promising Practices: On December 7, Treasury published The Tribal Housing Stability Report presenting Treasury’s federal financial assistance programs aimed at meeting a range of Tribal housing needs.
October 2023
- Reporting: October 16, 2023, Treasury released ERA2 Cumulative Program Data: Q2 2021 – Q2 2023.
- Promising Practices: On October 16, Treasury published a resource to assist local, state, territorial, and Tribal governments in effectively using American Rescue Plan funds to help more households stay in their homes.
August 2023
- Reporting: August 25, 2023, Treasury released ERA2 Cumulative Program Data: Q2 2021 – Q1 2023.
July 2023
- Reallocation: On July 26, 2023, Treasury released an update regarding the optional ERA2 Final Undrawn Funds Assessment.
June 2023
- Promising Practices: On June 28, Treasury updated the Intentional Landlord Engagement Promising Practice, and added the Intentional Tenant Engagement Promising Practice.
May 2023
- Guidance: On May 19, OMB published the Compliance Supplement. To view the relevant section on the Treasury website please see the 2023 ERA Compliance Supplement
- Reporting: On May 16, Treasury released additional ERA1 Disaggregated Demographic Data for Q1 2021 through Q4 2022
- FAQs: On May 10, Treasury updated its FAQs to address the use of self-attestation alone following the expiration of the public health emergency
- Notice: On May 3, Treasury released a notice regarding ERA1 assistance provided during the month of December 2022
April 2023
- Reallocation: On April 13,2023, Treasury released the reallocation amounts for ERA2 Quarter 3 General Pool Reallocation and Designated Voluntary Reallocations
March 2023
- Program Review: On March 22, 2023, Treasury posted “Emergency Rental Assistance: Supporting Renting Families, Driving Lasting Reform,” a blogpost reflecting on the evolution of the ERA program over the past two years.
- Reporting: On March 22,2023, Treasury released ERA1 & ERA2 Quarterly Demographic Data for Q1 2021 through Q4 2022
February 2023
- Reporting: On February 15, 2023 Treasury released ERA1 & ERA2 Quarterly Demographic Data for Q1 2021 through Q3 2022
January 2023
- Reallocation: On January 24,2023, Treasury released the reallocation amounts for ERA2 Quarter 2 General Pool Reallocation and Designated Voluntary Reallocations
- Guidance: On January 5, 2023 Treasury published an updated version of the ERA1 Closeout Resource
December 2022
- ERA1 Administrative Costs: On December 12, 2022, Treasury released the attached Notice regarding seeking approval of certain ERA1 administrative costs under Section V. of the ERA1 Reallocation Guidance.
- Microsoft Word version of letter template
November 2022
- Reallocation: On November 15, 2022, Treasury published technical updates to the ERA2 Reallocation Guidance, along with a redlined version showing the changes to the version updated on June 28, 2022.
- Reporting: On November 2, 2022 Treasury released ERA1 & ERA2 Quarterly Demographic Data for Q1 2021 through Q2 2022
October 2022
- Reallocation: On October 28, 2022, Treasury released the reallocation amounts for the ERA1 Final Reallocation Round.
- Reallocation: On October 21, 2022, Treasury released the reallocation amounts for ERA1 Tribal Reallocations and ERA1 Round 3 Designated Voluntary Reallocations.
- Reallocation: On October 18, 2022, Treasury released the reallocation amounts for ERA2 Quarter 1 Reallocation and Designated Voluntary Reallocations
- Research: On October 3, 2022, Treasury and the federal Office of Evaluation Sciences released new research on Equity in the Distribution of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
September 2022
- Reallocation: On September 29, 2022 Treasury released a notice regarding extensions of the deadline to obligate reallocated ERA1 funds
- Reallocation: On September 26, 2022, Treasury released the reallocation amounts for ERA1 Round 3 Reallocation.
- Guidance: On September 19, 2022 Treasury published the ERA1 Closeout Resource
- Promising practices: On September 16, 2022 Treasury published an update to promising practices for implementing culturally and linguistically competent outreach into ERA programs.
- Reallocation: On September 13, 2022 Treasury released a Notice Regarding Unobligated ERA1 Funds.
- Grantees wishing to return funds to Treasury as described in the Notice should submit the form titled “Request to Voluntarily Reallocate Excess Funds” on Treasury’s online portal. Under “Reallocation Designation,” they should select “General Reallocation.”
- Grantees may also apply for additional reallocated ERA1 funds by September 26, 2022 by submitting a Request for Reallocated Funds through the Treasury portal.
August 2022
- Reporting: On August 10, 2022, Treasury released the June ERA report
- Reallocation: On August 8, 2022, Treasury announced that Tribes, Tribally Designated Housing Entities, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands may apply for reallocated ERA1 funds through August 19, 2022 by using the ERA Portal.
July 2022
- Reallocation: On July 29, 2022 Treasury released a notice regarding extensions of the deadline to obligate reallocated ERA1 funds.
- FAQs: On July 27, 2022, Treasury published guidance on the use of ERA2 funds for affordable rental housing, eviction prevention, and housing stability purposes after October 1, 2022.
- Reporting: On July 25, 2022, Treasury released the May ERA report
- Reallocation: On July 18, 2022, Treasury released a notice regarding ERA1 recapture for Tribal Governments.
- Reallocation: On July 5, 2022, Treasury updated the ERA Portal to allow grantees to directly input their requests for reallocated ERA2 funds via the Portal, which is accessible through ID.me or Login.gov.
- FAQs: On July 6, 2022, Treasury updated its previously issued ERA FAQs to provide updates regarding ERA1 and ERA2 programs. All eligible entities should review these FAQs, which provide important information regarding the ERA.
June 2022
- Allocations and Payments: On June 29, 2022, Treasury posted instructions for grantees who wish to draw down additional tranche payments for ERA2 awards.
- Guidance: On June 28, 2022, Treasury updated the ERA2 Reallocation Guidance related to the Quarter 1 Assessment (see footnote #3).
- Reporting: On June 3, 2022, Treasury released the April ERA report.
- Reallocation: On June 1, 2022, Treasury added an Addendum to Reallocation Guidance for Tribal Governments
May 2022
- Reallocation: On May 20, 2022, Treasury updated the ERA Portal to allow grantees to directly input their requests for reallocated ERA1 funds via the Portal, which is accessible through ID.me or Login.gov.
- Reallocation: Grantees requesting to have their ERA1 funds reallocated should also input their requests via the Portal.
- Promising practices: On May 10, 2022 Treasury published promising practices for implementing housing stability services into ERA programs.
- Allocation: On May 5, 2022, Treasury released a notice to units of local government that have not yet accepted any ERA2 funds or executed the ERA2 Award Terms of a May 16th deadline in order to participate in ERA2.
- Reporting: On May 2, 2022, Treasury released the March ERA report and a report on 2021 ERA1 Demographic Percentages by State .
April 2022
- Reallocation: On April 11, 2022, Treasury updated the form for requesting voluntarily reallocated funds: Request for Reallocated Funds with Exhibit C – Voluntarily Reallocated Funds (Grantees that wish to request voluntarily reallocated ERA1 funds should now input their requests directly in the Portal).
March 2022
- Reporting: On March 30, 2022, Treasury released the February ERA report. Treasury Announces $30 Billion in Emergency Rental Assistance Spent or Obligated with Over 4.7 Million Payments Made to Households Through February 2022.
- Reallocation: On March 30, 2022, Treasury published its ERA2 Reallocation Guidance and published a Fact Sheet Summary of the guidance.
- Reallocation: On March 30, 2022, Treasury published technical updates to the ERA1 Reallocation Guidance, along with a redlined version showing the updates to the version published on October 4, 2021.
- Program and service design: On March 23, 2022, Treasury updated its resources for online applications to include a section on protecting applicant data through data privacy and security measures, including limiting the collection of social security numbers.
- Reallocation: On March 14, 2022, Treasury released the reallocation amounts for ERA1 Round 2 Reallocation and Voluntary Reallocation
- Reporting: On March 8, 2022, Treasury released monthly ERA spending data through January 31
February 2022
- Reporting: In February Treasury released quarterly data on the demographics of ERA recipients in 2021 and monthly ERA spending through December 31, 2021
January 2022
- Promising practices: On January 14, 2022, Treasury published promising practices for using commitment letters to assist prospective renters. These practices highlight the opportunity to help those who need to prove to a prospective landlord that they can access future rent assistance in order to be stably housed.
- Reporting: On January 7, 2022, Treasury released the November ERA report. Emergency Rental Assistance Disbursed $2.9 Billion in November in Largest Month for Program
- Reallocation: On January 7, 2022, Treasury updated forms relevant for the second round of reallocation:
- Request for reallocated funds: Requests for reallocated funds from Round 2 were required to be submitted to Treasury portal by January 21, 2022. Treasury will provide details on the process for requesting reallocated funds from the upcoming round in the coming weeks. Please do not email requests using prior forms.
- Reallocated Funds Form with Exhibit C- Voluntary Reallocated Funds. This form is now superseded by an updated form.
December 2021
- Report fraud, waste, and abuse: On December 16, 2021, Treasury added details on how to report fraud, waste, and abuse for ERA grantees and applicants.
- Reallocation: Reallocated Funds Form with Exhibit C- Voluntary Reallocated Funds
- Reallocation: On December 9, Treasury published the template letter for requesting excess funds to be voluntarily reallocated (such requests should now be input directly in the Portal).
- Promising practices: On December 9, Treasury updated the promising practices for fact-specific proxies to highlight grantee use of proxies, detail the advantages to using this practice, and considerations to take when implementing a proxy.
November 2021
- Reporting: On November 29th, Treasury released the October ERA report (spreadsheet updated 12/6/21). Emergency Rental Assistance Program Surpasses 2.5 Million Payments to Renters and Landlords.
- Promising practices: On November 18, 2021, Treasury updated promising practices for utilities, including an updated discussion about working with energy providers and other utility assistance programs (like LIHEAP). Treasury also updated the example screens for COVID-19 financial impact and housing instability.
- Program and service design: On November 5, 2021, Treasury added guidelines for fact-specific proxies and an example of an ERA application flow for grantees exploring application process improvements. In addition, example screens have been added and updated, including screens for rent and utility assistance requests.
- Promising practices: On November 5, 2021, Treasury updated the promising practices for take-away PDF of the Eviction Diversion Maturity Model.
October 2021
- Reporting: On October 25th, Treasury released the September ERA reportmore than 510,000 households received Emergency Rental Assistance in September, totaling nearly $2.8 billion in payments
- Reallocation: On October 25th, Deputy Secretary Adeyemo published a letter to all grantees to highlight additional detail on the reallocation process.
- Reallocation: On October 25th, Treasury published the following reallocation forms.
- Program Improvement Plan form
- Reallocated Funds form (which is now superseded by an updated form)
September 2021
- Reallocation: On September 24, Deputy Secretary Adeyemo published a letter to all grantees providing further insight into how Treasury intends to approach the reallocation process.
- Program and service design: On September 24, 2021, Treasury added a section on ERA program and service design which, includes new Guidelines for ERA program online applications including example screens and guidelines for program websites.
- Updated monthly reporting: On September 24, 2021, Treasury released the August ERA report showing more than 420,000 households received Emergency Rental Assistance in August, totaling over $2.3 billion in payments
August 2021
- FAQs: On August 25, 2021, FAQs were revised to provide further clarification on the use of self-attestation and to describe methods of speeding payments to eligible households.
- Promising practices: On August 4, 2021, Treasury updated promising practices around eviction diversion including the addition of a maturity model and example self-attestation forms.
- Reporting: All Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA1 and ERA2) Recipients have been notified of the requirement to submit Q2 partial reports via Treasury’s Portal by August 6, 2021.
June 2021
- FAQs: On June 24, 2021, Treasury updated its previously issued ERA FAQs to provide updates regarding ERA1 and ERA2 programs. All eligible entities should review these FAQs, which provide important information regarding the ERA.
View All Updates
Press releases
October 2023
- October 23: On October 23, Treasury released a report providing new evidence that the recovery from the economic harm of the COVID-19 pandemic was the most equitable recovery in recent history, supporting the housing stability of homeowners and renters alike. Building on these findings, the Biden-Harris Administration announced efforts to expand economic opportunity for communities of color and continue to close the racial wealth gap at the Annual Freedman’s Bank Forum.
- October 16:FACT SHEET: New Treasury Department Data Illustrates How American Rescue Plan Resources Are Expanding Access to Affordable Housing and Keeping Families in their Homes.
April 2023
- April 27:READOUT: Treasury Department Convenes Roundtable to Discuss the American Rescue Plan’s Historic Investments in Rental Assistance for AANHPI Communities
- April 13:Treasury Department Announces Over $520 Million to be Reallocated to Prevent Eviction
March 2023
- March 22: At Low Income Housing Forum, Deputy Secretary Adeyemo Announces Nearly 10.8 Million Emergency Rental Assistance Program Payments to Families at Risk of Eviction
February 2023
- February 15New Treasury Data Shows Emergency Rental Assistance Program Made Nearly 10 Million Payments to Families at Risk of Eviction
January 2023
- January 24Treasury Announces $690 Million to be Reallocated to Prevent Eviction
May 2022
- May 2In Los Angeles, Treasury Deputy Secretary Adeyemo Calls on State and Local Governments to Use American Rescue Plan Funds to Boost Affordable Housing Supply
March 2022
- March 8Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo Highlights Emergency Rental Assistance Program in Memphis, Tennessee on American Rescue Plan Anniversary Tour
February 2022
- February 24New Treasury Data Shows Over 80% of Emergency Rental Assistance Delivered to Lowest-Income Households; High percentages of assistance reaching Black, Latino, and female-headed households
January 2022
November 2021
- November 29thEmergency Rental Assistance Program Surpasses 2.5 Million Payments to Renters and Landlords
October 2021
- October 25thMore than 510,000 Households Received Emergency Rental Assistance in September, Totaling Nearly $2.8 Billion in Payments
September 2021
- September 24thMore than 420,000 Households Received Emergency Rental Assistance in August, Totaling Over $2.3 Billion in Payments
- September 14thTreasury Releases Additional Emergency Rental Assistance Funds to High-Performing State and Local Government Grantees
August 2021
- August 27thSecretary of the Treasury Yellen, Attorney General Garland and Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Fudge Sent Letter to Governors, Mayors and State Courts Urging Use of Emergency Rental Assistance Over Eviction
- August 27thREADOUT: Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo’s Roundtable Discussion with Emergency Rental Assistance Program Grantees and Call with National Advocacy and Housing Organizations
- August 25thTreasury Announces Seven Additional Policies to Encourage State and Local Governments to Expedite Emergency Rental Assistance
- August 18thREADOUT: Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo’s visit to Maryland Emergency Rental Assistance grantee
July 2021
- July 28thTreasury Joins Administration Call to Action to Alert Americans to Emergency Rental Assistance and Promote CFPB “Rental Assistance Finder”
- July 21stTreasury Data: Amount of June Emergency Rental Assistance Resources to Households More Than All Previous Months Combined
- July 9thREADOUT: Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo’s Roundtable Discussion with Emergency Rental Assistance Program Grantees
June 2021
- June 24thTreasury Releases Guidance to Speed the Provision of Emergency Rental Assistance Relief and Support Housing Stability for Renters at Risk of Eviction
May 2021
- May 21stTreasury Distributes $6.1 billion to Assist Renters and Landlords Through Emergency Rental Assistance Program
- May 7thTreasury Announces Additional $21.6 Billion in Emergency Rental Assistance Allocation
January 2021
- January 7thTreasury Launches $25 Billion Emergency Rental Assistance Program; Opens Portal to Begin Disbursement of Funding to State, Local, and Tribal Governments
View All Press Releases