Georgia was slow to spend rent assistance money. The federal government might want some of it back.
(Credit: Unsplash, via Sharon McCutcheon)
In its relief package last December, Congress set aside billions of dollars to help millions of Americans at risk of being evicted from their homes amid the economic fallout of the pandemic.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program sought to provide a lifeline in the form of cash grants to renters and landlords, administered through state and local agencies. Some governments moved the money swiftly; others lagged behind.
The state agency charged with handling the lion’s share of Georgia’s ERA money distributed far less than 30 percent of those federal funds by the end of September, possibly jeopardizing some of the cash that’s supposed to help tenants avoid eviction and landlords avoid foreclosure.
