Tens of thousands of renting Americans at risk of eviction unless Congress acts quick

Irish Daily Star

22-04-2025

Over 60,000 families across the country could be at risk of eviction if
Congress does not act
to renew funding for the Emergency Housing Vouchers program, which is set to run out of money by the end of next year, according to new reporting from the
Associated Press.
Funding is expected to be used up by the end of next year, according to a letter from the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
obtained by The Associated Press. That would leave tens of thousands across the country scrambling to pay their rent.
The program, established in 2021 under President
Joe Biden
, was designed to help those fleeing fleeing homelessness or domestic violence. If Congress were to allow the funding to lapse it would be among the largest one-time losses of rental assistance in the U.S., analysts say, and the ensuing evictions could churn these people — after several years of rebuilding their lives — back onto the street or back into abusive relationships.
Read More
Related Articles
Donald Trump branded 'dumbest President ever' after six-word comment about Congo
Read More
Related Articles
Deranged Donald Trump posts mad 184-word Easter message taking aim at all his enemies
Daniris Espinal stands for a portrait in Sunset Park, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, April 17, 2025.
(Image: AP)
'To have it stop would completely upend all the progress that they've made,' Sonya Acosta, policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which researches housing assistance told the AP. 'And then you multiply that by 59,000 households,' she said.
The program was part of the American Rescue Plan Act and allocated $5 billion to help pull people out of homelessness, domestic violence and human trafficking.
Last month, HUD sent letters to groups dispersing the money, advising them to 'manage your EHV program with the expectation that no additional funding from HUD will be forthcoming.'
The program's future rests with Congress, which could decide to add money as it crafts the federal budget. But it's a relatively expensive prospect at a time when Republicans, who control Congress, are dead set on cutting federal spending to afford tax cuts.
Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, who championed the program four years ago, is pushing for another $8 billion infusion.
But the organizations lobbying Republican and Democratic lawmakers to re-up the funding told the AP they aren't optimistic. Four GOP lawmakers who oversee the budget negotiations did not respond to AP requests for comment.
'We've been told it's very much going to be an uphill fight,' Kim Johnson, the public policy manager at the National Low Income Housing Coalition told the AP.
Daniris Espinal and her two daughters, aged 4 and 19, are living on one of those vouchers in a three-bedroom apartment with an over $3,000 monthly rent — an amount extremely difficult to cover without the voucher, she told the AP.
Four years ago, Espinal fought her way out of a marriage where her husband controlled her decisions, from seeing her family and friends to leaving the apartment to go shopping.
When she spoke up, her husband said she was wrong, or in the wrong or crazy.
Isolated and in the haze of postpartum depression, she didn't know what to believe. 'Every day, little by little, I started to feel not like myself,' she said. 'It felt like my mind wasn't mine.'
Daniris Espinal stands for a portrait in Sunset Park, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, April 17, 2025.
(Image: AP)
When notices arrived in March 2021 seeking about $12,000 in back rent, it was a shock. Espinal had quit her job at her husband's urging and he had promised to cover family expenses.
Police reports documenting her husband's bursts of anger were enough for a judge to give her custody of their daughter in 2022, Espinal said.
But her future was precarious: She was alone, owed thousands of dollars in back rent and had no income to pay it or support her newborn and teenage daughters.
Financial aid to prevent evictions during the pandemic kept Espinal afloat, paying her back rent and keeping the family out of shelters. But it had an expiration date.
Around that time, the Emergency Housing Vouchers program was rolled out, targeting people in Espinal's situation.