States struggle to get rent relief to tenants amid pandemic

Candida Uraga poses for a photo in the doorway of her apartment in New York, Friday, March 19, 2021. She has struggled to pay rent after being laid off from her job as a teaching assistant during the pandemic, and was denied help under a federally-funded rental assistance program. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)

Candida Uraga watches television in the bedroom she rents in New York on Friday, March 19, 2021. She has drained her savings trying to keep up with rent after being laid off from her job as a teaching assistant. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)

Bonney Ginett sifts through paperwork for her application to a federally-funded program to help pay back rent Thursday, March 18, 2021, in the Queens borough of New York. Ginett, whose massage therapy business dried up during the pandemic, applied for help in July and said she was denied in October because she failed to prove loss of income. The 65-year-old New York City resident now owes more than $26,000 in back rent on her one-bedroom apartment and fears eviction. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)

Bonney Ginett poses for a photo in the doorway of her apartment in the Queens borough of New York on Thursday, March 18, 2021. Ginett, whose massage therapy business dried up during the pandemic, applied for help in July and said she was denied in October because she failed to prove loss of income. The 65-year-old New York City resident now owes more than $26,000 in back rent on her one-bedroom apartment and fears eviction. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)

Bonney Ginett gazes out the window of her apartment in the Queens borough of New York on Thursday, March 18, 2021. Ginett, whose massage therapy business dried up during the pandemic, applied for help in July and said she was denied in October because she failed to prove loss of income. The 65-year-old New York City resident now owes more than $26,000 in back rent on her one-bedroom apartment and fears eviction. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)

Candida Uraga poses for a photo in the bedroom she rents in New York on Friday, March 19, 2021. She has struggled to pay rent after being laid off from her job as a teaching assistant during the pandemic and was denied help under a federally-funded rental assistance program. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)

Bonney Ginett poses for a photo in her apartment in the Queens borough of New York on Thursday, March 18, 2021. Ginett, whose massage therapy business dried up during the pandemic, applied for help in July and said she was denied in October because she failed to prove loss of income. The 65-year-old New York City resident now owes more than $26,000 in back rent on her one-bedroom apartment and fears eviction. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)

Candida Uraga prepares a meal in the kitchen of her apartment in New York on Friday, March 19, 2021. She has struggled to pay rent after being laid off from her job as a teaching assistant during the pandemic and was denied help under a federally-funded rental assistance program. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)