As federal eviction moratorium expires, Lexington scrambles to get money to renters
Lexington will devote more city employees to help renters stay in their homes as a partial federal COVID-19 eviction moratorium is set to expire after Christmas, city officials said Thursday.
Exactly how many people could be facing eviction come January is not known.
To date, city money set aside to help people who owe back rent has helped 501 households. So far, the city has awarded $867,181 in eviction assistance, according to city officials. There is nearly a $1 million left to spend.
The city has allocated through various programs a total of $1.9 million, mostly with federal coronavirus relief funds.
As of Nov. 4, more than 3,400 Fayette County households have inquired about rental assistance money through the web site www.covid19renterhelp.org, according to a group of housing advocates that has helped oversee applications for the aid.
Evictions were largely placed on hold throughout much of the pandemic but resumed in the courts in August. Since then, more than 1,200 evictions have been filed in Fayette County, a group of housing advocates said in a Dec. 4 letter to the editor in the Lexington Herald-Leader. The letter urged Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton to issue a moratorium on all evictions.
Gorton and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer have said they have been advised they do not have the legal authority to issue local eviction bans.
Instead, Gorton announced Thursday the city would take over all intake for COVID-19 renter assistance funds.
“Starting today, we have dedicated additional employees full-time to this work, and we will bring in more if needed,” Gorton said. Gorton stressed the best way to contact the city is online or through email at housingstabalization@lexingtonky.gov. Otherwise, applications can be completed via telephone at 859-258-3804.
The Lexington Fair Housing Council, other nonprofits and volunteers had started the site covid19renterhelp.org earlier this year to help streamline requests for rental help from citizens.
“Thanks to the Fair Housing Council and to the many volunteers who stepped up to help,” Gorton said. “They have done an excellent job. But with restaurant closures and the possible expiration of the federal eviction moratorium at the end of the month, we know we need more help. Today, local government is stepping up to ensure needs are met now and in the future. The federal moratorium may be extended through legislation now under consideration in Washington.”
The Centers for Disease Control moratorium on evictions has stipulations. Tenants must fill out a form. Many don’t know to do so.
The city’s Department of Social Services will begin managing the pre-screening process and quickly refer citizens to organizations that can assist. The new process will allow the city to monitor progress and ensure adequate funding, officials said.
Some of the rental assistance money is administered inside city government. Other rental assistance money is administered through social service agencies.
A separate team of city social services employees will contact those who contacted the Fair Housing Council but have not yet received assistance.
“There could be a lot of reasons for this,” Gorton said. “Some people are not eligible for COVID-related assistance, but they may be eligible for other programs. We want to clear up any confusion and address any outstanding cases by getting them in touch with the right agencies.”
These citizens do not need to contact the city again. The city will call those people as soon as possible, Gorton said.
Art Crosby, the Fair Housing Council executive director, said he and other nonprofits started covid19renterhelp.org to help streamline requests for assistance because no other group or entity had done it. With the city taking over, more people facing eviction will hopefully get the money they need, he said.
“If the moratorium is not extended, we will see a flood of evictions come January,” Crosby said. Many pending eviction cases in the Fayette County courts have been moved to January.
Many housing advocates criticized Gorton after she proposed earlier this month using some rental assistance money for implicit bias training for city employees. Instead, Gorton agreed to take the money for the bias training out of a city savings account.
Cities and states across the country are scrambling to get money to people who need it to stay in their homes despite being inundated with requests for assistance. Many rental relief programs are narrowly tailored and require a lot of paperwork and documentation. Too many people don’t qualify under the rules. Another obstacle — landlords must agree to take the money. Many refuse and opt to evict for a variety of reasons.
According to a recent New York Times article, cities such as Philadelphia are now giving some of their rental relief money directly to tenants who need it rather than landlords after seeing many people disqualified due to too stringent regulations and red tape.
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 2:55 PM.
