Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP): How It Worked

The Emergency Rental Assistance Program was a federal pandemic-era effort that distributed more than $46 billion to help low-income renters stay housed by paying rent, utility bills, and related costs directly to landlords or utility companies. It ran in two rounds, ERA1 and ERA2, and its performance period ended on September 30, 2025. Grantees can no longer use these funds to assist renters, and no new applications are being accepted anywhere in the country.¹ If you received assistance and have questions about how it worked or what to do next, or if you need rental help today, the sections below cover both.

Who Qualified for ERAP

Households had to meet three conditions under both ERA1 and ERA2. At least one member needed to have qualified for unemployment benefits or experienced financial hardship tied directly or indirectly to the pandemic, such as reduced income or significant unexpected costs. Under ERA1, applicants relying on the hardship option had to sign a written statement attesting to it.²

The household also had to show a risk of homelessness or housing instability. A past-due rent or utility notice, an eviction notice, proof of unsafe living conditions, or other evidence accepted by the local program all counted.²

Finally, total household income could not exceed 80 percent of area median income. HUD publishes those figures annually for every metropolitan area and non-metropolitan county, so the dollar cutoff varied significantly by location.³ Federal guidelines told local programs to prioritize households at or below 50 percent of area median income and those with a member unemployed for 90 days or more, which pushed the most financially distressed applicants to the front of the line where funds were tight.⁴

What ERAP Paid For

The program covered a wider range of housing costs than many applicants realized: rent, rental arrears, utilities and home energy costs including past-due amounts, and other housing-related expenses caused by the pandemic.¹ Utility coverage extended to electricity, gas, water, sewer, and trash removal. Relocation costs such as security deposits, and in some local programs hotel or motel stays for displaced households, were also eligible.

How Long Assistance Could Last

Under ERA1, a household could receive up to 12 months of financial assistance, plus an additional 3 months if needed to keep the household housed. That set a ceiling of 15 months total. Prospective rent (future months, as opposed to catching up on arrears) was capped at 3 months per application, and any household still needing help after that had to reapply within the same 15-month overall limit.² ERA2 used a similar framework but gave grantees more flexibility to spend on broader affordable-housing and eviction-prevention activities.¹

How Payments Reached Landlords and Tenants

Funds generally went to the landlord or utility provider rather than to the tenant. Under ERA1, programs had to make reasonable efforts to get the landlord to accept payment directly first, and could only move to paying the tenant after those efforts failed or the landlord refused in writing.⁴

ERA2 changed that. Grantees were not required to seek landlord cooperation first, and tenants could apply on their own even when the landlord chose not to participate.⁴ That shift sped things up for households whose landlords were unresponsive or hostile. Once approved, funds typically arrived by electronic transfer or check, with both the tenant and the landlord or utility notified when payment was made. Many jurisdictions reported roughly four to six weeks from a complete application to payment, though local volume and staffing changed that considerably.

Tax Questions if You Received ERAP

Tax treatment depends on who received the money. For landlords, ERAP payments are rental income like any other rent and must be reported. Some landlords received 1099 forms for these payments.

For tenants who received direct payments because the landlord refused to participate, the picture is less clean. The IRS has not issued a blanket exclusion for ERAP payments from gross income, and some recipients have reported receiving 1099-NEC forms. If you got a 1099 tied to ERAP funds, report it on your return. A tax professional or current IRS guidance on pandemic relief payments is the safer path, especially if your assistance spanned multiple tax years.

Where to Get Rental Help Now That ERAP Has Ended

With ERA2’s performance period closed as of September 30, 2025, no new ERAP applications are being taken.¹ Rental assistance still exists, but it is more fragmented than during the pandemic.

A few federal programs remain in operation:

Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8), the largest ongoing federal rental assistance program, administered by local public housing authorities. Waitlists are long in most areas, but it is the primary long-term federal option for low-income renters.
HOME-ARP, funded at $5 billion under the American Rescue Plan, which supports affordable housing development, tenant-based rental assistance, and supportive services for people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or fleeing domestic violence.
Emergency Housing Vouchers. HUD distributed 70,000 of these vouchers to local housing authorities for people experiencing homelessness, at risk of homelessness, or fleeing domestic violence. Very few housing authorities still have vouchers left to issue, but households already in the program continue to receive assistance.⁵

Beyond federal programs, many states and localities run their own rental assistance funds with their own eligibility rules. The fastest way to find what’s available where you live is to call 211, the national helpline operated by United Way that connects callers with local housing assistance, utility aid, and emergency shelter resources. Many local programs don’t advertise widely and are really only findable through 211 or the community action agency in your county.

1
U.S. Department of the Treasury. Emergency Rental Assistance Program
2
U.S. Department of the Treasury. ERA1 Program Statute Section 501
3
HUD USER. Income Limits
4
U.S. Department of the Treasury. FAQs – Emergency Rental Assistance Program
5
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Emergency Housing Vouchers