Mass. requests more federal rental assistance after distributing $270M

Photo | Google Maps A 90-acre apartment complex in Holden known as Reserve on Salisbury

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By Katherine Hamilton

Massachusetts’ federal rental assistance program reached a distribution milestone on Friday, making the state eligible for greater allocation of funds from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, according to a Friday press release from the Gov. Charlie Baker Administration.

States were required to spend or obligate 65% of funding received in the first federal allocation of rental assistance by Sept. 30 to be considered for reallocation of unspent funding from other states not meeting the benchmark.

Along with notifying the U.S. Treasury of its eligibility, the state requested any excess funding from the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program be reallocated to Massachusetts.

Since March 2020, Massachusetts’ Eviction Diversion Initiative, which is funded by the state and federal government, has distributed roughly $270 million in rental assistance across 40,000 households, per the release.

In tandem with the state’s eviction moratorium, the rental assistance program was created to support renters and landlords during the coronavirus pandemic.

More recently, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development launched a newly streamlined rental assistance application process and expanded opportunities for small landlords to apply for assistance on behalf of their tenants, per the release.