Administrative Burdens in Emergency Rental Assistance Programs

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, localities across the United States have been given unprecedented short-term rental assistance funding and considerable flexibility in its distribution. The emergency nature of these programs suggests that the administrative burden placed on participants should be lower than in typical rental assistance programs such as the housing choice voucher program. Yet there are several features unique to housing, such as the double take-up challenge of engaging both tenants and landlords, that persist. This article draws on national surveys of more than two hundred emergency rental assistance programs, surveys of thousands of tenant and landlord applicants, and interviews with ten program administrators to investigate the degree and sources of administrative burdens in these programs.