Rep. Wagner R-MO asking question by Mr. Gilbert Winn landlord side

5:07PM Sep 10, 2021

Speakers:

Keywords:

rental assistance

landlords

bureaucratic red tape

eligible

program

delinquency

consent

funds

incentives

good faith effort

pushed

date

tenant

bipartisan fashion

received

applications

legislation

effort

democrats

helping

Nearly nearly $50 billion in rental assistance, only 4.8 billion of or 10% of these funds have made it into the hands of those who need it most. It is clear to the American people that the Biden administration has failed to distribute billions in rental assistance, months ago. Republicans introduced legislation to streamline to cut through the bureaucratic red tape to streamline this rental assistance program to get this money out the door to support hardworking Americans. However, Democrat leadership completely ignored this good faith effort, and I think it is critical to Treasury Secretary yell and take responsibility for the program's failure and appear before this committee, as we have requested on several occasions, to no avail, so that we can better understand what is keeping so many of America's attendants and landlords from receiving these funds in a timely manner instead of working in a bipartisan fashion and incorporating the much needed provision, I'm Ranking Member McHenry is legislation, Democrats have been trying to shove through a bill in the 11th hour, that is full of bureaucratic red tape without any input from across the aisle, and are needlessly putting families at risk of eviction and pushing Mom and Pop landlords, out of business. We are not helping, renters and we are actively hurting landlords, Mr. Schwartz, Mr wind COVID hit in March of 2020, which was 18 Complete rent cycles ago. This means there may be some landlords who have not been paid a full month's rent in a year and a half. What have been the financial impact, that COVID has on landlords to date. Mr Winn.

So, thank you for that question. So currently there are $37 million in accounts receivable and delinquency rants across our portfolio, despite all the efforts I testified about that we've done, only half of the residents have actually received the funding that they're eligible for, and the tenant consent aspect of that we feel is the largest barrier. We have done the communication. We have met with them we filled out the applications we've handed them the complete applications, and yet 15,000 of our residents who are eligible, have not received the assistance,

and yet we are sitting on over $40 billion, much of which was in the Cares Act back in last December that is still sitting there in this fund, not distributed. It is disgraceful, what incentives, do you think, Mr Wynn would make a meaningful impact in helping to deliver this emergency rental assistance to repay those debts.

Very quickly, it would be informed consent as opposed to signatures by the tenant to apply on behalf, it would be bulk applications that landlords are able to submit, and that are mandated to be approved by the IRAP administrators rather than just encourage a combining of the two programs to cut out bureaucracy. And I would say really the fourth one, would be to make sure that when a unit is vacated that that unit is still eligible for rental assistance because that is where a lot of the outstanding delinquencies are,

you know, thank you, I December effort, which was a bipartisan Cares Act, to get them like eligible households quickly and efficiently was, was hastily on gun, with the creation of the Democrats emergency rental assistance to program in March, and that and the Dems bill that $1.9 trillion, Bill was a second parallel program was similar purposes but different rules timelines and incentives, and most of all was most egregious, it pushed the the end date of the Biden administration's this managed program out to 2025 25. We need rental assistance now not in 2025. We have to fix this broken bird kradic problem and come together, Madam Chair, Chairwoman, I yield back my time, gentle latest time.