This story was originally produced by the Keene Sentinel. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Federal funding is set to end Dec. 29 for a rental assistance program that has provided more than $230 million statewide to help thousands of people stay in their homes.
Gov. Chris Sununu said in a written statement Thursday evening that officials learned hours earlier that the state would not be given the $67 million in funding it had requested in the second round of the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
“With skyrocketing inflation, cold weather and the holiday season, this is the absolute worst time for the federal government to take this step,” he said.
He sent a letter to the New Hampshire congressional delegation Thursday, asking them to urge the U.S. Treasury Department to reconsider its funding decision.
“Please stand up and right this wrong for the state,” he said in the letter.
In a written statement Friday, Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said the delegation would do everything it could, but also said Sununu created the problem by being too slow to spend money provided in the program’s first round.
“We did our job — we secured New Hampshire its fair share of federal dollars to provide rental assistance and delivered it to the State,” she said.
“The Governor’s failure to get these dollars out the door in a timely fashion is a result of his mismanagement or poor understanding of the program, neither of which seem to be shared by other States, cities and counties that managed to efficiently get their funding out to residents.”
Earlier coverage from NHPR, February 2022: State, federal officials address the status of New Hampshire Emergency Rental Assistance funding
More than 23,000 users of the program have received assistance with rent as well as utility and home-energy costs, according to state figures.
New Hampshire Housing — a self-supporting public corporation that promotes, finances and supports affordable housing in the state — helps administer the effort.
The organization issued a statement Friday saying no new applications would be taken for the program pending a review and a determination of whether more federal funding would be available.
Southwestern Community Services implements the program for Cheshire and Sullivan counties Beth Daniels, its chief executive officer, said in an email Friday she was busy trying to manage changes arising from the funding decision, but didn’t have time to comment further.
In an interview two weeks ago, she said demand for rental assistance jumped over the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’ve never seen so much need, paired with anxiety,” she said.
Meanwhile, apartment vacancy rates have dropped below 1% locally and statewide, which means that if someone loses their housing, it could be very hard to find a replacement.
She also said there were no easy answers on how to arrange rental assistance when the funding dries up.
The Emergency Rental Assistance Program is funded by the U.S. Treasury Department, with $25 billion from the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act to expire at the end of this year, and another $21.5 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act, which has an expenditure deadline of Sept. 20, 2025.
Qualifications include that the household must be at risk for homelessness. This can be shown, for example, by past due rent or eviction notices or the need to spend more than 30% of income on rent and utilities.
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