Unless you live in Washington, DC, you may never heard of ERAP. That’s the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, providing $43 million annually to subsidize the rent payments of residents. It’s a popular program, particularly given the sky-high cost of rent in the capital and the high unemployment rates. But its popularity is likely the biggest problem with it. You see, ERAP is a first-come-first-served program that people apply for using an online form. And the demand is so high that there isn’t nearly enough money to keep accepting new applicants. They open the website for new applications every three months. When they opened it on October 1 last year, they were flooded with applications and by October 10 the fund was broke and they had to close it again. (dcist)
The need for rental assistance in the city is high. D.C.’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) reopened on…
