Expanding HUD’s Eviction Protection Grant Program

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $20 million in new grants for its Eviction Protection Grant Program, doubling the amount originally allocated for the launch of the Program in November 2021. Through HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R), these competitive grants were made available to non-profit and governmental legal service providers serving or expanding services in areas with high rates of eviction or prospective evictions, including rural areas.

The first cohort of 10 grantees funded by the Program are implementing a total of seven statewide programs (Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, and Utah) as well as two regional (Northwestern Ohio and Western New York) and three local (Albany, Atlanta, and Las Vegas) programs. This expansion will support 11 additional statewide, regional, and local programs across the Northeast, Southern, and Western United States. The objective of the Eviction Protection Grant Program is to help individuals and families – including people of color who are disproportionately represented among those evicted, people with limited English proficiency, and people with disabilities – avoid eviction or minimize the disruption and damage caused by the eviction process.

Grantees will also participate in research conducted by PD&R and will be expected to collect and submit data on services provided and associated outcomes. The Eviction Protection Grant Program is part of HUD’s continued work, as part of a whole of government approach, to support families recovering from the public health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information about the extent and impacts of evictions and best practices for addressing them, please see the following:

• HUD’s eviction edition of Evidence Matters

• Benefits of eviction diversion programs on The Edge

• PD&R’s Quarterly Update on the Government’s Response to the Eviction Crisis

• Integrating Housing Counseling with Legal Services for Greater Impact

As a result of the Administration’s efforts to support and advance eviction diversion programs across the country, the Eviction Lab estimates that millions of renters avoided the threat of eviction in 2021.