15 USC 9058 - Emergency rental assistance

View all text of Part A [§ 9041 - § 9063]

§ 9058c. Emergency rental assistance

(a) Funding

(1) Appropriation

(2) Reservation of fundsOf the amount appropriated under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall reserve—

(A) $305,000,000 for making payments under this section to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa;

(B) $30,000,000 for costs of the Secretary for the administration of emergency rental assistance programs and technical assistance to recipients of any grants made by the Secretary to provide financial and other assistance to renters;

(C) $3,000,000 for administrative expenses of the Inspector General relating to oversight of funds provided in this section; and

(D) $2,500,000,000 for payments to high-need grantees as provided in this section.

(b) Allocation of funds to eligible grantees

(1) Allocation for States and units of local government

(A) In generalThe amount appropriated under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) that remains after the application of paragraph (2) of such subsection shall be allocated to eligible grantees described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (f)(1) in the same manner as the amount appropriated under section 9058a of this title is allocated to States and units of local government under subsection (b)(1) of such section, except that section 9058a(b) of this title shall be applied—

(i) without regard to clause (i) of paragraph (1)(A);

(ii) by deeming the amount appropriated under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this Act 1

1 So in original. Probably should be “this section”.

that remains after the application of paragraph (2) of such subsection to be the amount deemed to apply for purposes of applying clause (ii) of section 9058a(b)(1)(A) of this title;

(iii) by substituting “$152,000,000” for “$200,000,000” each place such term appears;

(iv) in subclause (I) of such section 9058a(b)(1)(A)(v) of this title, by substituting “under section 9058c of title 15” for “under section 9058a of title 15”; and

(v) in subclause (II) of such section 9058a(b)(1)(A)(v) of this title, by substituting “local government elects to receive funds from the Secretary under section 9058c of title 15 and will use the funds in a manner consistent with such section” for “local government elects to receive funds from the Secretary under section 9058a of title 15 and will use the funds in a manner consistent with such section”.

(B) Pro rata adjustment

(2) Allocations for territoriesThe amount reserved under subsection (a)(2)(A) shall be allocated to eligible grantees described in subsection (f)(1)(C) in the same manner as the amount appropriated under section 9058a(a)(2)(A) of this title is allocated under section 9058a(b)(3) of this title to eligible grantees described under subparagraph (C) of such section 9058a(b)(3) of this title, except that section 9058a(b)(3) of this title shall be applied—

(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting “of section 9058c of this title” after “the amount reserved under subsection (a)(2)(A)”; and

(B) in clause (i) of subparagraph (B), by substituting “the amount equal to 0.3 percent of the amount appropriated under subsection (a)(1)” with “the amount equal to 0.3 percent of the amount appropriated under subsection (a)(1) of section 9058c of this title”.

(3) High-need grantees

(1) In general

(2) Subsequent payments

(d) Use of funds

(1) In generalAn eligible grantee shall only use the funds provided from payments made under this section as follows:

(A) Financial assistance

(i) In generalSubject to clause (ii) of this subparagraph, funds received by an eligible grantee from payments made under this section shall be used to provide financial assistance to eligible households, not to exceed 18 months, including the payment of—(I) rent;(II) rental arrears;(III) utilities and home energy costs;(IV) utilities and home energy costs arrears; and(V) other expenses related to housing, as defined by the Secretary.

(ii) Limitation

(B) Housing stability services

(D) Other affordable rental housing and eviction prevention activitiesAn eligible grantee may use any funds from payments made under this section that are unobligated on October 1, 2022, for purposes in addition to those specified in this paragraph, provided that—

(i) such other purposes are affordable rental housing and eviction prevention purposes, as defined by the Secretary, serving very low-income families (as such term is defined in section 1437a(b) of title 42); and

(ii) prior to obligating any funds for such purposes, the eligible grantee has obligated not less than 75 percent of the total funds allocated to such eligible grantee in accordance with this section.

(2) Distribution of assistance

(e) Reallocation of funds

(1) In general

(2) Eligibility for reallocated funds

(3) Payment of reallocated funds by the Secretary

(4) Use of reallocated funds

(f) DefinitionsIn this section:

(1) Eligible granteeThe term “eligible grantee” means any of the following:

(A) The 50 States of the United States and the District of Columbia.

(B) A unit of local government (as defined in paragraph (5)).

(C) The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.

(2) Eligible householdThe term “eligible household” means a household of 1 or more individuals who are obligated to pay rent on a residential dwelling and with respect to which the eligible grantee involved determines that—

(A) 1 or more individuals within the household has—

(i) qualified for unemployment benefits; or

(ii) experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship during or due, directly or indirectly, to the coronavirus pandemic;

(B) 1 or more individuals within the household can demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability; and

2 So in original. A closing parenthesis probably should precede the period.

(3) Inspector general

(4) Secretary

(5) Unit of local government

(g) Availability

(Pub. L. 117–2, title III, § 3201, Mar. 11, 2021, 135 Stat. 54.)