Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) reintroduced the Eviction Crisis Act of 2026, which would create a permanent $3 billion-a-year Emergency Assistance Program administered by HUD as a competitive grant to state, local, tribal and territorial governments, according to NLIHC's summary of the bill. The bill would also fund eviction data collection and add renter protections in tenant screening reports. The release cited Congressional Research Service figures that 49.4 percent of renter households were cost-burdened in 2024, and 15,953 eviction filings in Denver in 2025.
NLIHC listed the introduction date as Sept. 24, 2026; the bill was endorsed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, NLIHC, Bipartisan Policy Center Action and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
Smart Cities Dive · on the U.S. Conference of Mayors affordability survey of 113 mayors
A U.S. Conference of Mayors survey found 96% of responding mayors said residents are very or extremely concerned about affordability, with 96% naming housing costs as the biggest concern, followed by groceries (55%) and utilities (40%). Fifty-six percent of mayors reported increased homelessness and evictions, and nearly 93% said the cost of living in their city rose in the past year. The Conference said it launched a national affordability tour on September 25, with a first stop in Albuquerque on October 8.
The Conference of Mayors said the survey was fielded August 18 to September 4 and drew responses from 113 cities; it released the results September 18.
The Jacksonville City Council approved a $2 billion budget Tuesday by an 18-1 vote, reversing the Finance Committee's August move to strike a new $4.9 million affordable housing trust fund; Council member Matt Carlucci's restoration amendment passed 12-7. The trust fund includes $2 million for down payment assistance, $1.4 million for capital stack funding and $1.5 million for attainable housing utility tap fees. An amendment to restore $500,000 held back from United Way eviction diversion failed, leaving that program at half its city funding.
If Florida voters approve the Amendment 3 homestead property tax cut on November 3, the held-back contingency money goes to reserves against a projected $300 million revenue shortfall by 2028.
Portland City Council's Housing and Permitting Committee, chaired by Candace Avalos, held its first Renters' Feedback Forum. The Portland Housing Bureau reports that about half of Portland renters are cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing, and about one-quarter spend more than half their income on housing. Renters told the committee the city should intervene before missed rent becomes an eviction.
The council's Keep Portland Housed package, approved in April, allocated nearly $56 million in previously unbudgeted Portland Housing Bureau funds, including $5 million for short-term rent assistance.
Princeton University's Eviction Lab presented data September 10 at the Atlanta History Center showing metro Atlanta landlords filed 140,000 eviction cases in 2025, which researchers said is more than three times the national average and the highest rate of any major U.S. metro. About 31,000 filings occurred within the City of Atlanta, one for every four renter households, and researcher Peter Hepburn said Atlanta's 25% filing rate compares with 5% in New York and 9% in Houston, Nashville, and Jacksonville. Eviction Lab found 95% of cases are filed over non-payment, with the typical Atlanta tenant one month behind on rent versus two months in Minneapolis and Kansas City.
About 65% of metro Atlanta eviction filings are ultimately dismissed by landlords after being paid, and about 25% end in default judgments against tenants who do not appear in court, per Eviction Lab.
Mayor Daniel Lurie announced a $30 million package of tenant-protection reforms Thursday, citing a "rent emergency" as Apartment List data showed San Francisco rents up 25.6% in the past year. The package earmarks $3 million to expand full-scope eviction counsel to 400 households and directs $27 million through the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing to about 650 extremely low-income households as federal Emergency Housing Vouchers expire. Other elements include a $1 million tenant-education campaign, a 25% increase in Ellis Act relocation payouts, and legislation from Supervisor Jackie Fielder barring nonpayment evictions for tenants less than one month behind.
The federal Emergency Housing Voucher program, which has supported more than 900 people in San Francisco since the pandemic, is set to expire at the end of 2026, four years earlier than originally envisioned.
Mobile Loaves and Fishes, the nonprofit running Community First Village, filed 77 evictions last year, its highest annual total, up from six cases in 2021; 44 of those residents were ultimately removed. The nonprofit has filed 51 evictions so far this year. The village houses 455 formerly homeless residents and plans to grow to as many as 1,900 units across 178 acres.
The eviction filing rate at the site is more than three times that of Travis County as a whole, according to Eviction Lab data cited by KUT.
Kansas City reached a relocation agreement August 27 with the North Lawn Tenant Union covering 10 households forcibly displaced August 21 when the North Lawn apartment complex was condemned, plus two units vacated since May over deteriorating conditions. The city will pay for storage units, moving costs, groceries, a security deposit and three months' rent, drawing on $500,000 from its Housing Trust Fund approved August 13. KC Tenants and the mayor's office negotiated the deal at city hall.
Maricopa County and the City of Phoenix launched an Eviction Prevention Pilot Program that will use $800,000 to pay qualified residents up to $3,200 covering up to two months of rental arrears, with all program funding going toward rent. Eligibility is limited to four ZIP codes with elevated eviction rates — 85008, 85040, 85041 and 85042 — and requires documented financial hardship and the property owner's agreement that payment fully satisfies the arrears.
Maricopa County's program page says the pilot's application window closed August 21 at 4 p.m.
KGW reported that Stephanie Potter, a Portland woman facing eviction, applied for rent assistance through an Oregon Health Plan program that offers temporary rental help tied to health needs. She said she applied almost a year ago, the assistance never arrived, and she and her dogs now face homelessness.
The Oregon Health Plan's health-related social needs benefit screens eligible households for temporary rent and utility assistance.
The American Prospect · on the DOJ settlement talks over COVID eviction-moratorium damages
The Justice Department is in settlement talks with rental property owners, led by Darby Development, who sued in 2021 claiming damages from the federal COVID eviction moratorium, after DOJ declined late last year to seek Supreme Court review of an appellate ruling that revived the case. The settlement was estimated earlier this year at $1.5 billion covering about 1,500 property owners, and plaintiffs' counsel said the group has grown to more than 2,000 plaintiffs, requiring a new damages estimate. The Prospect reported the plaintiff class is dominated by LLCs and investment vehicles controlled by Starwood Capital Group, Dominium, and Morgan Properties, though it also includes small proprietors.
The Supreme Court held in summer 2021 that the CDC's extension of the moratorium exceeded executive authority, the ruling DOJ originally cited in seeking dismissal of the claims-court suit.
The city's Human Resources Administration rejected about 75% of the nearly 30,000 One-Shot Deal requests related to rent arrears filed between January 1 and March 31, 2026, according to city data. The agency received 54,705 One-Shot Deal requests in total over that quarter and approved about 36% of the nearly 19,000 applications for unpaid utility bills. Advocates said procedural requirements have made approval increasingly difficult despite Mamdani's campaign pledges on eviction prevention.
The rejection rate for rent-arrears One-Shot Deal requests was 62% in April–June 2022, when the city received about 17,200 applications.