MADISON, Wis. — As the eviction moratorium ends, about $200 million in rental assistance is available for Wisconsinites. 

In September 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instituted a moratorium on certain evictions. People couldn’t be evicted if the pandemic affected their ability to pay their rent. 

However, that moratorium was always set to expire on July 31, 2021. Officials from the Biden administration said they would’ve liked to extend it, but recent rulings from the Supreme Court showed it would’ve been struck down. 

According to a recent Census Bureau survey, nearly 14,000 Wisconsinites said they thought it was “very likely” they’d be evicted over the next two months. An additional 14,300 people said they thought it was “somewhat likely”. 

But many of those possible evictions are avoidable. 

Between the CARES Act and the Great American Rescue Plan Act, Congress has allocated nearly $47 billion to rent assistance programs across the country. 

In Wisconsin, there are two separate categories for rent payment help: The six largest cities/counties, and the rest of the state. Brown County, Dane County, Milwaukee County, Waukesha County, the city of Madison and the city of Milwaukee all got direct funding from the federal government. They have their own rent assistance programs.

Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Emergency Rental Assistance program serves the rest of the state. 

“It quite literally has been the saving grace for people to keep a roof over their heads,” said Wisconsin Department of Administration secretary Joel Brennan. 

The Wisconsin Emergency Rental Assistance Program has helped more than 12,000 families in the Badger State stay in their homes. 

“You can't have a stable household when it comes to education, sending your kids to school, being able to work… all of those things are dependent on having a roof over your head,” Brennan said. 

Statewide, Brennan said $60-70 million has been spent on helping renters. About $46 million of that has been outside those six large cities/counties, throughout the rest of Wisconsin. 

Through WERA, there’s at least another $150 million available. There’s even more in the hands of those six cities/counties. Even more than that is coming from the Great American Rescue Plan Act. 

“It's not the usual problem that we have,” Brennan laughed. “Most often the problem is the lack of resources.” 

This is not what we often hear from government: They have the money to help people. They just need enough people to ask for it. 

This trend is happening across the country. Overall, Congress has approved giving $47 billion to the states to help people pay their rent. According to the Treasury Department, only $3 billion has been distributed to those who need it. 

Part of that lag has to involve how swamped rent assistance organizations are. But a much larger piece of that picture is lack of awareness. 

Video from a CNN story shot in Las Vegas showed a woman responding to an eviction order. A reporter asked her whether she had tried to get assistance through one of these programs. She had no idea they existed. 

“I didn’t know that,” she said. “And I bet you a lot of other people do not know that as well.” 

Over the next week, the Wisconsin Department of Administration will be upping its communication efforts. They want everyone to know this help is available. 

“More than a million postcards are being sent out to residents around the state of Wisconsin,” Brennan said. “As of August 1, we'll be doing doing some work with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association with radio advertising. There's been a social media campaign designed around this.” 

Even once tenants get the ball rolling, it can still take some time. The organizations are overwhelmed with calls. But they’ve got even more money to give. 

“The agencies are distributing an enormous amount of money to an enormous amount of people, and it takes time to get those checks cut,” said Nick Toman, of the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee. 

While it takes time to distribute the money to renters, who can then pay landlords, the eviction process takes time too. When it’s fast-tracked, it can take two months. So Toman advises even if you’ve gotten an eviction notice, you should apply for help. When you get it, it’ll be a win-win for everybody. 

“There’s still a lot of rental assistance money out there,” Toman said. "So delaying the [eviction] process is often in the best interest of everyone, because landlords can be made whole if the tenants are permitted to apply and get rent assistance.” 

While time has run out on pausing the eviction process, there’s still time, and a lot of money, to keep Wisconsinites in their homes. 

To qualify for rent help, people have to have experienced financial hardship because of the pandemic, meet income requirements, and be behind on their rent. 

To find where you should go for rent assistance, click here.