By Zach Wichter From Bankrate.com In a House Financial Services Committee hearing last Friday, Democrats and Republicans agreed that COVID-related rental assistance has been slow to get into the hands of tenants and landlords. But the agreement largely ended there, as elected officials and invited witnesses clashed over how to get the ball rolling on disbursement, with much of the money allocated unspent even though millions of tenants are facing eviction as pandemic protections expire. “There’s no question that the funds aren’t reaching landlords and renters quickly enough,” Committee Chair Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in her opening statement. For renters, the slow pace of assistance payouts can mean a heightened chance of eviction, and for landlords, it can mean less income to keep a building maintained. Rental Assistance Basics Congress has authorized $46 billion in rental assistance since the start of the pandemic and arranged for those funds to …