Tenants living free of rent for a year and a half impacts the pocketbooks of owners who actually rent dwellings to those who don’t pay.

The owners must pay for heating, cooling, water and electricity plus property taxes.

I never hear stories of what must be Daddy Warbucks types never having a cash flow challenge as small businessmen and businesswomen renting a couple of units might have.

For what it’s worth, how many are at risk of losing their homes in your neighborhood?

South Carolina is suffering. Under $1 million has been disbursed out of $39 million requested. Distributing direct aid this way is new to many local government officials.

State and local governments can prevent this rental crisis from becoming a homelessness crisis with help from nearly $50 billion in federal Emergency Rental Assistance funds.

Yet it is too slow, too few renters are eligible and the application process is too complicated.

As a result, funds are reaching only a small fraction of those who need them most.

Even as the American economy continues its recovery from the devastating impact of the pandemic, millions of Americans face deep rental debt and fear evictions and the loss of basic housing security.

Covid-19 has exacerbated an affordable housing crisis that predated the pandemic.

It has exacerbated deep disparities that threaten the strength of an economic recovery that must work for everyone.

To meet this need, the Emergency Rental Assistance program makes money available to aid families unable to pay rent or utilities.

• ERA1 provides up to $25 billion under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which was enacted Dec. 27, 2020.

• ERA2 provides up to $21.55 billion under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was enacted March 11, 2021.

Grantees use the funds to provide assistance to eligible households through existing or new rental assistance programs.

Tim Houghtaling, SanMateo, FL