The Impact of Emergency Rental Assistance IN PHIlADELPHIA AND LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Chi-Hyun Kim, Katharine Nelson, Vincent Reina, and Rebecca Yae
Read the Brief on ERA in Philadelphia here.
Read the Working Paper on ERA in Philadelphia here.
Read the Working Paper on ERA in Los Angeles County here.
Read Eviction Research Network and Urban Displacement Project's working papers here. 
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government dedicated $46.55 billion to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program to help households pay rent and to keep people housed during the resulting economic crisis. In response to a call for proposals from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with Treasury, the Housing Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania partnered with the Eviction Research Network and Urban Displacement Project at the University of California, Berkeley, to more closely examine the impact of ERA on moves, eviction filings, and homelessness. This work has culminated in a report, which shows that communities with higher levels of ERA distribution also had lower eviction filings and that ERA impacted housing outcomes, including eviction filings and evictions, in the medium term. The report is currently under review, but we are releasing chapters of the report as standalone working papers with our partners at Eviction Research Network. 

Our working papers, "The Household-Level Impact of Emergency Rental Assistance in Los Angeles County" and "The Household-Level Impact of Emergency Rental Assistance in Philadelphia," examine ERA's effects on moves, eviction filings, and homelessness 1 to 2 years after households applied for ERA through survey and administrative data. Overall, households receiving ERA experienced significant reductions in moves and homelessness in both Los Angeles County and Philadelphia, and eviction filings in Philadelphia (where data on eviction filings was available). 

 Key findings include:  
  • ERA was associated with reduced moves in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Controlling for baseline housing risk, demographic variables, and other factors, receiving ERA was associated with a 53% reduction in the odds of moving in Los Angeles and a 35% reduction in Philadelphia. 
  • ERA was associated with reduced incidences of homelessness in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, with a 65% reduction in the odds of experiencing street homelessness in Los Angeles and a 60% reduction in Philadelphia.
  • Descriptive analyses suggest that ERA may be related to reduced informal evictions: unfunded households were more likely to report that their landlords forced them to move without a court proceeding, compared to funded households.
  • Households receiving ERA through Philadelphia’s Eviction Diversion Program experienced reduced rates of formal eviction filings: after 6 months, landlords not receiving ERA filed for eviction at rates four times higher than ERA-receiving landlords. 
Meanwhile, our partners at Eviction Research Network study the relationship between ERA and eviction filing rates at the county and neighborhood-levels in their two working papers. Their work examines ERA distribution in over 700 counties and nearly 12,000 neighborhoods across the U.S and compares relative eviction filing rates in the two years before the pandemic (March 2018–February 2020) to the subsequent two years (March 2020–February 2022). They find that counties and neighborhoods with high rates of ERA disbursal also had lower eviction filings. Furthermore, their working paper on neighborhoods suggests that ERA went to neighborhoods with eviction risk. 
Disclaimer: This research is supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under award number H-21744CA. The contents of this report are the views of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, or of the U.S. Government. Additionally, Vincent Reina is a Stoneleigh Foundation Fellow and the fellowship provided support for his time on the project. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors alone and should not be construed as representing the opinions of any of these funders.
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