“Pandemic Victims Caught in Economic Tide – ‘We Messed Up, Pay Us Back’

As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, officials in multiple U.S. states are beginning to realize that while they meant to help vulnerable renters, they actually overpaid them instead. These officials are now saying that they “messed up” and are asking renters to pay the money back. This realization came after many state governments, in an effort to aid those impacted by the pandemic, created programs to help vulnerable renters pay their rent. Unfortunately, many of these programs ended up accidentally overpaying some of the tenants. Now, many of those affected by the overpayments are being told that they must return the money or risk being prosecuted for fraud. In California, rental assistance programs have overpaid about $128 million, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. In New Jersey, overpayments total around $90 million. Florida’s program, meanwhile, has overpaid about $50 million, and officials in Pennsylvania have admitted to paying out $27 million too much. The issue of overpayments is not limited to rental assistance programs. Another example can be found in the federal government’s $1,200 stimulus checks, which many individuals received too early or too late. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, about $923 million of those checks were returned by recipients. The overpayments are particularly troubling because many affected individuals are low-income renters who were struggling financially even before the pandemic hit. Officials in multiple states have acknowledged that the overpayments were a result of mistakes made by them, not by the recipients. While officials are now asking for the money to be repaid, some are asking for more leniency given the financial hardship already suffered by many renters due to the pandemic. California, for example, has passed a bill that would forgive $98 million of the $128 million it overpaid. The issue of overpaying tenants is one more example of the problems faced by governments across the country as they try to aid those impacted by the coronavirus. It’s also a reminder that even when they mean well, officials can still make mistakes that affect individuals’ finances.