Thousands await rental assistance as evictions proceed

Published 6:00 am Thursday, September 2, 2021

MONTGOMERY — With no safeguards in place for renters following the Supreme Court overturning the CDC’s eviction moratorium last week, millions of people are now facing eviction — many of whom are still waiting to receive rental assistance.  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s extended moratorium was slated to end Oct. 3 in communities with high COVID transmission rates; however, the Court’s Aug. 26 ruling stated that if the federal moratorium continued, “Congress must specifically authorize it.” 

A group of Alabama landlords and property owners, Alabama Association of Realtors, were part of a group across the country who filed the lawsuit challenging the CDC.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, which measures household experiences during the coronavirus pandemic from Aug. 4 through Aug. 16, showed that at least 123,400 Alabama respondents said they would likely being out of their homes in the next two months due to eviction, with more than 60,000 of them being behind on their rent by three or more months. 

Greg Corpe of Alabama Disability Action Coalition is one of thousands of Alabama residents waiting to receive rental assistance; the pulse survey showed more than 20,000 respondents applied for assistance and were denied, and more than 2,000 were awaiting a response from a rental assistance program in the state. 

“One of the main things right now disproportionately affecting neighborhoods of color and/or folk who are disabled is the length of time it’s taking for the rental assistance to pay out. I applied in March, my landlord didn’t get a notification until May…” he explained. “My account says waiting on landlord confirmation. I get on the phone with them and wait and wait and wait until I can’t wait any longer so I get into a virtual cue and they’re supposed to call you back. Occasionally if you’re able to wait long enough and get someone on the phone, their simple response is, ‘we’re waiting to assign a case worker to you.’”

Alabama Housing Finance Authority received $263 million in federal emergency rental 

assistance funds in February to administer the state’s Emergency Rental Assistance program, and an additional $63 million was allocated directly to local jurisdictions, including Jefferson County and the City of Birmingham.

As of July 31, AHFA reported that only $5.75 million, or just over 2% of funds, had been administered to 770 applicants—with the average dispersement amount at $7,450—while 11,507 applications remain in various stages of follow up for missing information from applicants, according to AHFA spokesperson Kristi Gates.

“Throughout the course of the entire process, we review and follow-up with landlords and tenants regarding required documentation, additional needed information, and review to detect possible fraud and to protect against duplicate applications, all as required by Treasury’s strict program rules,” Gates said. “Despite the technical advances to receive this much data, each submission must be manually processed and reviewed at multiple stages before funding can occur, which is occurring as quickly as the process permits.”

Gates stated that the top reasons for applicants’ need for rental assistance are due to the applicant needing to stay home for childcare and being laid off from work.

Corpe hadn’t been able to pay his rent in full since October 2020 after losing his job, he said, and he used the money he did have to pay for internet and utilities to apply for work-from-home jobs and to look for assistance. He mentioned he received a disability grant last year for technology and utilities and was able to receive the funds within a couple days.  

Gates said payout to the tenant or landlord who applies for the state’s ERA, on average, has taken 20-90 days, depending on the completeness and accuracy of the application. 

“Ongoing outreach efforts (averaging up to about 200 calls and/or emails per day) along with completing the review of applications to ensure Treasury rules compliance are material factors in the time required to process applications,” Gates explained. “Likewise, the funding process involves multiple transactions per application concerning payments to landlords, to property management groups and to various utility companies.”

Corpe said his landlord officially responded to the application in July, so now he’s playing the waiting game for approval. He worries that the technical nature of applying for assistance has hindered many in need, especially residents with disabilities. 

“The big snag here is this program. There’s plenty of money. Plenty of people who qualify and fill out the stuff. And I think this is where it affects people with disabilities in some ways. If you don’t have the technology or skills to use a computer or internet access, you’re not going to be able to fill this out,”  Corpe said. “We haven’t heard from any single one of our clients getting a response as far as the automated stuff from the system or a phone call from a case worker.” 

Of the census survey respondents in Alabama, 43% reported “some” or “a lot” of difficulty with their vision, 36% reported some difficulty walking, and 11% reported “some” or “a lot” of difficulty hearing.

Nearly 70%, or 86,208 identified as Black; 23,990 identified as white and 9,000 identify as Hispanic. More than 4,200 identify as two or more races.

Nearly half of the respondents make $25,000 or less.  

Those in need of rental assistance can apply or obtain more information at eraalabama.com.