Webinar: White House Policy Briefing on Eviction Diversion

The CDC eviction moratorium is over, and state and local courts across the country are looking for ways to address their eviction dockets. The Rapid Response Team's Eviction Diversion Lab hosted a webinar with senior officials from the White House, U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of the Treasury. Speakers offered insights and answered questions concerning recent U.S. Treasury Department guidance on how Emergency Rental Assistance funding can be used to support court-based eviction diversion, mediation, navigators and civil legal services.

Presenters discussed some of the difficulties in disbursing the initial $25 billion earmarked for eviction assistance and provided examples of ways courts can partner with community organizations, local governments and legal aid agencies and others to help tenants and landlords avoid unnecessary evictions.

They also highlighted:

• A statement from Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta: How State Courts Can Prevent an Eviction and Housing Crisis.

• A directory of rental assistance programs from the Consumer Final Protection Bureau (CFBP)

• The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s “promising practices” for Emergency Rental Assistance programs

Additionally, the discussion referenced examples of programs and efforts under way in jurisdictions like Austin, Philadelphia, Minnesota, New Orleans, Houston, Memphis and Louisville. Partnerships in these jurisdictions have created solutions ranging from issuing stays for renters with pending assistance applications and waiving fees and penalties to sharing data on at-risk tenants and providing legal counsel for tenants with children.

Webinar participants included:

• Gene Sperling, American Rescue Plan coordinator and senior advisor to President Biden, The White House

• Burden Walker, senior counselor, Office of the Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice

• Erika Pothig, special assistant to the president on housing and urban policy, White House Domestic Policy Council

• Noel Poyo, deputy assistant secretary for community economic development, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Register for upcoming NCSC webinars at ncsc.org/webinars.

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