Oregonian: Most Renters Still Waiting For Aid

Today's lead story in The Oregonian concerns the continued backlog of rent assistance payouts. Although the state has made headway in tackling the problem, some counties are still behind expectations and many renters could lose their eviction protection before the money arrives.

Of the $204 million Oregon received from the U.S. government for the latest round, it had paid out or allocated 71% including administrative costs. But, only 37% of the money has actually reached landlords on behalf of renters. 

New guidelines released by the Department of the Treasury on Monday indicate that level of performance should be enough for the state to keep the money it's received. The new guidelines will allow Oregon to request more funding because it had committed more than 65% of the monies received by a September 30th deadline.

Another $156 million is already on the way according to a government executive, although the state is receiving between 1,000-2,000 applications weekly and the money is expected to be quickly depleted.

Between mid-September and October 4th, Oregon moved from being ranked 26th in the nation for distribution of rental aid to 8th place. 

The worst counties in the state for distributing funding include Marion County, which has received $10.4 million but had not paid out any rental assistance by the end of August and by the end of September had paid out nearly $575,000. 

Meanwhile, eviction filings in Oregon totaled 361 in July, 463 in August and 473 in September. The numbers do not include renters who move before the rental owner takes them to court.