Emergency Rental Assistance Program

Looking for rental assistance?

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

Even as the American economy continues its recovery from the devastating impact of the pandemic, millions of Americans face deep rental debt and fear evictions and the loss of basic housing security. COVID-19 has exacerbated an affordable housing crisis that predated the pandemic and that has exacerbated deep disparities that threaten the strength of an economic recovery that must work for everyone.

To meet this need, the Emergency Rental Assistance program makes funding available to assist households that are unable to pay rent or utilities. Two separate programs have been established: ERA1 provides up to $25 billion under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which was enacted on December 27, 2020, and ERA2 provides up to $21.55 billion under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was enacted on March 11, 2021. The funds are provided directly to states, U.S. territories, local governments, and (in the case of ERA1) Indian tribes or Tribally Designated Housing Entities, as applicable, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. Grantees use the funds to provide assistance to eligible households through existing or newly created rental assistance programs.

ERA Fact Sheet (6/24/2021)
ERA Fact Sheet (5/7/2021)

View an index of all emergency rental assistance programs to find assistance near you.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

Recent updates

On August 25, 2021, Treasury updated its previously issued ERA FAQs to provide additional information and guidance for the ERA1 and ERA2 programs. Eligible entities should carefully review these updates as they address significant program implementation issues.

Promising Practices

Recent updates

On August 4, 2021, Treasury updated promising practices around eviction diversion including the addition of a maturity model and example self-attestation forms.¹

Example self-attestation forms

View example self-attestation forms currently used by ERA grantees.

View example forms

REPORTING GUIDANCE

Monthly Reports

State, Locality and Territorial ERA1 and ERA1 Recipients are required to submit brief two-question monthly reports for the months of August, September, October, November and December 2021. The reports are due the 15th calendar day of the following month.

Quarterly Reports

All Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA1 and ERA2) Recipients must submit full Quarter 1, Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 compliance reports by October 15, 2021. The Treasury Portal will be made available to all recipients in mid-September for submitting the required reports.

ERA Reporting Guidance v 1.0 provides detailed information on ERA1 and ERA2 reporting requirements and reporting deadlines. See Appendix 1 for details on the quarterly reporting required of Recipients that are Tribes, Tribally Designated Housing Entities, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. This Guidance will be updated periodically and all updates will be posted here.
User Guide – Treasury's Portal for Recipient Reporting, Emergency Rental Assistance Programs v1.1 includes step-by-step guidance for submitting the required ERA1 and ERA2 Quarterly Reports using Treasury’s Portal.
Guidance on ERA1 and ERA2 Partial Q2 Reports
- Recorded Presentation on Submitting Q2 Partial Reports using Treasury’s Portal

Treasury is also providing program data reported by grantees:

^{1 Treasury recognizes that programs vary according to local circumstances; these examples are intended to help programs identify opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of their own programs but may not be universally applicable to all grantees. The program information provided herein is intended solely to illuminate “promising practices” that grantees might consider when developing their jurisdiction’s program policies and infrastructure. All such policy development must proceed in accordance with the governing legal authorities and published policy guidance. Nothing herein should be construed as (i) altering these requirements or (ii) confirming that any specific grantee’s program policies or administrative practices have been fully reviewed and found compliant.}