Federal money is available. So why are landlords and renters suffering?
States, cities are dispersing rental assistance at a snail’s pace
File(Vyacheslav Dumchev / Getty Images/iStockphoto)
2:00 AM on Aug 4, 2021 CDT
With a fight now well underway over the federal eviction moratorium, it is past time to take the non-controversial step of spending the federal money available for renters. We say this regardless of whether the administration can now extend that expired moratorium. After all, too many people could be cast onto the streets.
Such an outcome is avoidable. States and local governments must speed distribution of billions of federal dollars to pay landlords whose tenants are unable to pay the rent. Nationally, just $3 billion of the $45 billion in federal rental assistance from the last two coronavirus stimulus packages has made it to the landlords despite the fact that those dollars are in the hands of state and local officials. The disbursal rate is better in Texas,
More than half of the money raised and spent between April to May has been in Northwest Dallas’ District 13 and District 14, which covers parts of downtown, .
When we had the money to get caught up, my son passed away on January 10, 2021 unexpectedly,” Woody said. “19-years-old from a heart attack so, instead of being able to get caught up on our rent we had to make the decision to bury my son.
Ian Mattingly is President of the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas. He said the eviction moratoriums, which have lasted nearly 14 months, have affected landlords also. Many of our owners, particularly those that have small rental communities or single-family homes that they rent out to supplement their income, have been stretched beyond their capacity to bear this burden,” Mattingly said.
Challengers allege that incumbent Tennell Atkins hasn’t done enough to improve disparities within his community. But Atkins said his familiarity of the.
Following the Money in Dallas City Council Campaigns
You can learn a lot from campaign finance reports.
By
Alex Macon and Matt Goodman
Published in
FrontBurner
April 14, 2021
12:24 pm
Earlier this month, over 50 candidates in 14 contested Dallas City Council races had to file their latest campaign finance reports, documenting their fundraising and spending over the last several months.
The Dallas Morning News has hit on some of the bigger takeaways from these records. Almost $900,000 has been pumped into contests that will determine the makeup of the city council, with Mayor Eric Johnson spared from having to run for re-election until 2023. Big-name donors who have previously backed the mayor are now supporting challenges to three incumbent city council members who voted against Johnson last fall in a battle over police overtime funding a sign that public safety concerns (and the mayor’s strained relationships with many of his colleagues) are driving forces this election