COVID-Era Renter Relief Programs: Lasting Policy Impact

The federal and state renter relief programs activated between 2020 and 2022 represent the largest coordinated government intervention in residential tenancy in US history. Funded through successive congressional appropriations totaling over $46 billion (U.S. Department of the Treasury, Emergency Rental Assistance Program), these programs reshaped landlord-tenant law, administrative procedure, and housing policy well beyond their operational windows. The policy architecture established during this period — eviction moratoria, direct rental assistance, and procedural tenant protections — continues to influence state legislation, local ordinance drafting, and renter rights frameworks catalogued across the renters provider network.

Definition and scope

COVID-era renter relief encompasses four discrete federal program categories and a parallel layer of state-administered programs:

1. Emergency Rental Assistance Program 1 (ERA1) — Authorized under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260); $25 billion appropriated for rent, utilities, and related housing costs.
2. Emergency Rental Assistance Program 2 (ERA2) — Authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Pub. L. 117-2); $21.55 billion appropriated with expanded eligible uses including housing stability services.
3. CDC Eviction Moratorium — Issued under 42 U.S.C. § 264; extended through August 26, 2021, before the Supreme Court vacated the final extension in Alabama Association of Realtors v. Department of Health and Human Services, 594 U.S. ___ (2021).
4. CARES Act Protections — Section 4024 of the CARES Act (Pub. L. 116-136) imposed a 120-day eviction moratorium on properties with federally backed mortgages or participating in federal housing assistance programs.

State programs in California, New York, Texas, and more than 35 other jurisdictions operated alongside these federal instruments, frequently with stricter tenant protections or longer coverage windows. The California COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act (AB 3088, SB 91, AB 832) represents the most extensively litigated state-level framework.

How it works

The operational structure of ERA funds followed a grantee-subgrantee model administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Treasury disbursed funds to state, territorial, tribal, and local grantees, who in turn administered applications, verified eligibility, and issued payments directly to landlords or utility providers. Eligible households generally had to demonstrate:

1. Household income at or below 80 percent of the area median income (AMI) as published annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD AMI data).

Treasury issued compliance guidance through a series of Frequently Asked Questions documents (FAQs), updated iteratively through 2021 and 2022, addressing reallocation rules, indirect costs, and documentation flexibility. ERA2 expanded permissible uses to include housing counseling and legal representation, funding a new category of tenant-facing service provider distinct from traditional social services.

The eviction moratoria operated on a separate administrative track: covered tenants submitted declarations to landlords asserting eligibility criteria. Landlords were prohibited from filing eviction actions for nonpayment during covered periods but retained the right to pursue arrears through civil court after moratorium expiration.

The full landscape of how these protections were administered at the local level is documented across the renters provider network and explained further in the provider network purpose and scope reference.

Common scenarios

Scenario 1: Partial-payment arrears and landlord participation
A landlord refusing ERA funds presented a policy conflict in 31 states where statutes required landlord acceptance as a condition of eviction filing. ERA2 guidance permitted direct-to-tenant payments where landlords declined, resolving a structural gap in ERA1.

Scenario 2: Federally backed versus conventional properties
Tenants in properties with FHA-insured, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac mortgages held CARES Act protections regardless of CDC moratorium status. Properties without federal mortgage backing were solely dependent on the CDC order or applicable state law — a distinction that produced materially different outcomes for tenants in the same city.

Scenario 3: Self-attestation and audit exposure
ERA2 permitted self-attestation of income for households below 50 percent AMI where documentation was unavailable (Treasury FAQ, updated January 2022). Grantees that accepted self-attestation broadly now face HUD and Treasury audit scrutiny in post-program compliance reviews.

Decision boundaries

Several structural distinctions determine which program rules apply to a given rental situation:

ERA1 vs. ERA2 eligibility
ERA1 restricted assistance to rent and utilities. ERA2 added housing stability services and prospective rent, creating a separate eligibility track for tenants not yet in arrears. Grantees that had exhausted ERA1 funds could draw from ERA2 under different compliance rules — the two programs are not interchangeable for audit purposes.

Moratorium coverage: CDC vs. CARES Act vs. State
The CDC moratorium required tenant self-declaration and applied nationally to non-federally-backed properties. The CARES Act moratorium required no tenant declaration but applied only to federally backed properties. State moratoria varied in trigger mechanisms, covered property types, and enforcement procedures. Where all three overlapped, the most protective standard governed.

Post-program legacy obligations
ERA2 grantees retained administrative obligations for recordkeeping through program close-out under 2 C.F.R. Part 200 (Uniform Guidance). Landlords who received ERA payments and subsequently pursued eviction for covered arrear periods have faced civil claims in California, New York, and New Jersey courts.

For researchers and housing professionals mapping the current state of renter protections that trace directly to these programs, the how to use this renters resource page details how program categories are classified in this reference system.