The White House is putting pressure on states and local communities to prevent evictions of financially struggling tenants, after a deadline to prevent millions of Americans from being kicked out of their homes for defaulting on their rent due to the health crisis expired Sunday.
This comes as the Delta variant has led to a resurgence in COVID-19 infections in the United States.

A number of states in the country have already taken measures to protect residents until the end of the month, covering about a third of American renters, but White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki emphasized the need for “action” in other states.<According to AFP, Biden called on all states and local communities to take measures to protect tenants ”for at least the next two months.”
The White House is particularly seeking to accelerate the receipt by tenants of funds allocated by the Biden administration in early February to help them pay their rents. It is also seeking to “explore all means available to the federal government to pressure states and local communities” to distribute the funds.
The money promised by the federal government to help renters pay their rent is delayed in reaching their bank accounts.
The money is paid to states and local communities, which are then tasked with distributing the assistance to families. However, this requires sophisticated systems to receive applications, verify individuals, disburse funds and more.
Of the $46 billion approved by the government, only $3 billion has reached families, including $25 billion disbursed in early February.
More than 10 million people have fallen behind on their rent payments, according to estimates by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an independent research institute.Some 3.6 million renters consider themselves at risk of being evicted from their homes within two months, according to a Census Bureau study of 51 million renters in early July.

The deadline for suspending evictions, which has been extended several times, expired at midnight on Saturday. The deadline was given for health reasons related to the pandemic.
In an economic recovery that is not benefiting all households equally in the United States, rents are rising by 8.1% between June 2020 and June 2021, according to the specialized website “Realtor”.

Rents are rising at a rate of 8.1% between June 2020 and June 2021, according to the specialized website “Realtor”.