Rental Relief Headed To New Hampshire After Delay

Rental relief headed to New Hampshire after delay

by Ethan DeWitt, New Hampshire Bulletin February 10, 2022

New Hampshire will receive the next installment of federal funding for a program to provide rental assistance to eligible residents soon, Gov. Chris Sununu announced Wednesday, ending a delay the governor said could have threatened the state’s program.

Addressing reporters at a weekly press conference, Sununu said the U.S. Department of the Treasury had reached out to his office Wednesday to tell him that the “first part of part two of the funding is going to be released.”

“So I think we’re going to be in good shape,” Sununu said. “We’ve notified a lot of the providers that we work for that have been providing that rental assistance opportunity to our citizens.”

The announcement came after Sununu met in person with Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo during a trip to Washington, D.C., for an annual meeting of the National Governors Association between Jan. 28 and 31. At the meeting, Sununu raised the issue that the federal rental relief funds had been delayed, he said. 

The governor followed up with a letter to the Treasury on Feb. 4 calling the situation “critical” and adding that if it wasn’t resolved “immediately” that “the state will need to cease funding grants for those households only eligible for ERA 2, threatening the housing stability of those families in need,” a reference to the program name Emergency Rental Assistance 2. 

In the letter, Sununu said the state submitted documentation to the U.S. Treasury to request the remaining funds on Dec. 30, but that the department asked for “a minor adjustment to its request” on Jan. 3. After making that adjustment, the state had not heard an update on the delivery of the funds as of Feb. 4, Sununu said in the letter. 

In a statement Wednesday evening, a spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury Department said the department “has addressed the issues raised in the governor’s letter and is communicating with his office about delivering additional assistance.” The spokesperson did not comment on the delay. 

The update comes as New Hampshire crosses the $100 million threshold for rental relief disbursed since spring 2021. The state had distributed $100,636,588 in funding as of Feb. 6, according to the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority, spread among 12,763 households. On average, households have received $7,885 in assistance, which can cover past due and future rent, as well as utility costs and relocation expenses. 

Federal rental relief money has been doled out to states and local governments in two tranches: Emergency Rental Assistance 1 and Emergency Rental Assistance 2. The latter program carries expanded eligibility for tenants and allows the rental relief to flow directly to tenants if landlords refuse to participate. 

New Hampshire has received $179.5 million in ERA 1 funding and $46.2 million in ERA 2 funding, the Treasury spokesperson said. But not all the money has flowed quickly; the state has used 40 percent of its ERA 2 funding, the department spokesman said. Sununu said Wednesday that the state had disbursed about half of the $179.5 million in the first tranche.

The governor argued the slow pace of disbursement in the state is a reflection of demand, not of efficiency.

“The rental assistance piece isn’t as high of a need here as in other parts of the country,” Sununu said. “So I don’t think it’s as much of a ‘Why aren’t the dollars going out fast enough?’ I think the demand just isn’t here as much as in other parts.” 

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