Back Rent Down In Barnstable County: Analysis

FALMOUTH, MA — Around 6.3 million rental households nationwide could face eviction in the near future, despite the availability of extensive government funding for rental assistance.

An estimated 1,854 (9.7 percent) of Barnstable County rental households were behind in paying rents as of early August, according to a new county-by-county analysis by Surgo Ventures, a nonprofit organization that uses data to analyze health and social problems in communities.

The estimated number of households in arrears has gone down since July, when around 1,991 were behind.

Delinquent Barnstable County households collectively owed $8,605,682 in back rent as of early August, according to Surgo Ventures' estimates, for an average of $4,660 each.

Massachusetts and Barnstable County roughly align when it comes to the percentage of renters who are behind. About 12 percent of Massachusetts renters are in arrears.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal eviction moratorium extension from President Joe Biden's administration in late August. The moratorium was first put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September 2020.

The problem isn’t the lack of appropriated funds — more than $46 billion in emergency rental assistance (ERA) has been approved by Congress — , but the money is mostly sitting unused in state and local assistance programs.

“ERA programs are up and running for the large part, but they are slow to get money into the hands of renters,” Surgo Ventures senior research scientist Aaron Dibner-Dunlap told Patch.

About $1.7 billion in rental assistance was disbursed in July, but it hasn't had much of an effect on rental arrear rates, according to the latest Surgo Ventures analysis.

"You had a sort of limited ability to process incoming applications, and the burden on the applicant was and still continues to be high,” Dibner-Dunlap said.

The U.S. Treasury Department updated its guidance to states and local governments with a list of best practices from across the country. The department encouraged self-verification of information instead of having landlords or tenants gather burdensome amounts of documentation.

Some states and local governments have made eviction diversion programs mandatory before an eviction goes through. Among them are state of Massachusetts and city of Philadelphia.

The end of federal unemployment benefits in early September could put more people behind on rent as well, Dibner-Dunlap said.

“It stands to reason more people could fall behind on rent before they can recover," he said.

Editor’s note: This post was automatically generated using data from Surgo Ventures. Surgo Ventures estimates the Barnstable County rental arrears rate is between 7.4 and 12.0 percent at 95 percent confidence. Feedback can be sent to content@patch.com.