Texas eviction filings among the nation's highest as millions of rent relief dollars go unspent

[TexasTowelie]

The U.S. Treasury Department seized $1.9 million in unspent rent relief from five Texas counties and one city because local officials didn’t spend the money fast enough.

by Joshua Fechter, Texas Tribune


Eviction filings in several Texas cities are among the highest in the nation — even as millions of federal dollars aimed at helping struggling renters have sat unspent so long in some counties that the federal government is taking the money back.

Landlords in the Houston area filed more than 2,000 eviction cases last week, according to Eviction Lab, a research center based at Princeton University that tracks eviction filings — the highest number there since the pandemic began. Among the 31 cities that Eviction Lab tracks, Houston had the most eviction filings in the country for the week, with Dallas and Fort Worth also in the top five along with Phoenix and Las Vegas.

As the omicron surge is again forcing many workers to choose between a paycheck and the risk of COVID-19 exposure, the U.S. Treasury Department seized $1.9 million in unspent rent relief from five Texas counties — Jefferson, Brazoria, Hays, El Paso and Nueces — as well as the city of Laredo because local officials didn’t spend the money fast enough, the agency said earlier this month.

The money is instead being sent to other parts of the state or the country where local governments have distributed rental assistance more quickly.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/01/21/texas-evictions-rent-relief/