What should be done, (I haven’t fleshed this all the way out so your thoughts are welcome), is there should not be a moratorium on evictions. Instead the law should say that the eviction case may continue and the hearing judge would require the tenant to provide his evidence that he/she could not pay the rent.
That would include pay stubs, bank account statements, savings and investment accounts, etc. The judge would then make a ruling on whether the tenant was able to pay all of the monthly rent payments or a portion of the payments due based on the facts presented.
Once the decision is made that the tenant could not make the payment the court would order the tenant to apply for the rental assistance.
Alternatively the state could place a certain amount of funds in an escrow type account and allow the judge to order the past due rent to be paid to the landlord from this account with the tenant being responsible to repay the state over a 3-5 year period, (it’s a loan, not a gift).
If the judge determines that the tenant could/should have been making timely rental payments but did not for unreasonable reasons then the judge can order the eviction immediately and order payment of the delinquent amount of rent or award the past due rent to be paid from the above fund with the tenant being obligated to repay the state, (treated like a fine).
Like I said, it has not been fleshed out but it would be workable.
That’s what I have proposed too to my “representatives” but that wouldn’t fit the demonrat narrative that mom and pop LLs are all Snidely Whiplash rolling in dough whilst the pooooooor victim tenants are barely making it living in obscene conditions.