Data collected and analyzed from Utah’s joint Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) now shows that $17.14 million of federal ERAP funds have been paid out in Salt Lake County, helping 12,190 Salt Lake County residents since March 2021.
Three months into the rental assistance program, Salt Lake County data shows women are applying for rental assistance at a higher rate than men. Approximately 60% of applicants are women, and the largest portion are women unemployed for more than 90 days.
“The demand for rental assistance funds this spring has exceeded our expectations,” said Michael Gallegos, Director of Salt Lake County Housing & Community Development. “While we’re ahead of where we thought we would be, there are still plenty of funds available, and we encourage residents to continue to apply, especially as we know the CDC’s Eviction Moratorium will end after June 30.”
While a number of Salt Lake County residents have bounced back from the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, there are still significant efforts underway to help residents facing ongoing housing insecurity. ERAP recipient race demographics match or exceed County demographics, showing that rental assistance funds are getting into traditionally underserved populations.
“We know there are geographic areas of higher need, and diverse populations that may require support to apply,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson. “We are addressing those needs as they’re identified by the community and data. We are also utilizing organizations in our outreach grant program to assist disproportionately impacted individuals in tapping into this critical resource to avoid eviction.”
Salt Lake County is releasing ERAP data to the public, showing the total amounts paid out since the program began, density and location of rental assistance paid by zip code in Salt Lake County, and rent relief payouts by municipality. This information is available on a new, public dashboard at https://slco.org/slcomunidata on Tab #7. Some interesting data points include:
- 55% of rental assistance provided thus far in Salt Lake County has been applied for by landlords on behalf of their tenants
- 62% of all rental assistance funds in Utah are being paid out to Salt Lake County residents
- All areas of Salt Lake County have seen requests for assistance
- Salt Lake City, the largest city with the highest rate of renters, has seen the highest number of requests; nearly $6 million in rental assistance has been paid out to residents in Salt Lake City
Rental assistance funds are available to those who need and qualify for the remainder of 2021. Residents can apply at https://rentrelief.utah.gov. If an individual needs free assistance with the application, they can find a list of those ready to support them best suited to their needs or language at https://slco.org/covid-19/rental-assistance/.
