'It's going to be a crisis'
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In just the second day of the Henrico COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance program, all the 500 printed applications for the help were gobbled up by county residents facing dire financial challenges resulting in an inability to afford rent money.
“Those 500 copies went fast,” said Paul Woodard, Henrico County supervisor of Adult Social Services. “I’m hoping lots of people, if they have been financially impacted by COVID-19 and are behind on their rent, will apply.”
The application also is available online in English and Spanish, Woodard said. Residents can download and print the application or request that one be mailed to them.
Launched on June 10, the emergency program – funded by $360,000 from the federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act – is available for qualifying, income-eligible households that have been impacted by job loss, furlough, reduction in hours of pay or other factors resulting from the economic downturn precipitated by the pandemic. The program is designed to prevent homelessness; assistance is intended for Henrico renters facing imminent loss of their residences. The latest Census data showed approximately 40% of Henrico residents are renters.
Through the program, Henrico will make rental payments of as much as $1,500 per month on behalf of county residents who qualify. The payments, which can cover overdue rent, delinquency fees and court filing fees, will be made for as long as four months. Applicants must provide documentation regarding the economic impact of the pandemic on their finances and household income as well as additional verification.
‘It’s going to be a crisis’
Since COVID 19 made its presence in central Virginia in March, nearly 35,000 Henrico residents have filed initial unemployment claims, according to data from the Virginia Employment Commission. More than 15,200 residents were still filing continuing unemployment claims during the week ending July 11, according to the VEC.
That lost income is creating what Equal Justice Works Fellow and Central Virginia Legal Aid Society attorney Palmer Heenan calls a pending eviction crisis.
Heenan fights evictions for low income area residents hit by job loss, furloughs and health issues in court. The number of cases has boomed since COVID-19 bashed the economy, he said.
“The people I represent are police officers, teachers, nurses, they have been furloughed from work or their hours have been cut back,” said Heenan. “Many are not eligible for unemployment. They’re struggling to make ends meet. They’ve never struggled before. Now It’s magnified and it’s going to be a crisis. These are middle class Americans who always had a stable job and can no longer afford to pay rent.”
On a recent Friday at the Henrico General District Court on Parham Road in the county’s West End, dozens of unlawful detainer cases were on the docket for Courtroom 3, with the majority of addressing missing rent payments from before COVID-19, aimed at more than a dozen residents at the Carriage Club Apartments on Fernwood Street.
Unlawful detainer filings are the first step in the eviction process; caseload statistics from Virginia General District Courts show there were 3,100 unlawful detainers filed in the Henrico General District Court from January to May of this year. During that same period, Richmond’s numbers were higher (4,008), while Chesterfield's were lower (1,972).
One of the residents sat outside the courtroom waiting to hand over a check to the lawyer representing the complex. The woman, who asked not to be named, said she was employed in an administrative position with a health care company which had, since the pandemic, cut her pay, decreased her hours by 20%, stopped matching payments to 401K plans and halted raises. She had applied for the rental assistance through ACTS agency.
“It’s all new and it can be confusing,” said the woman of the financial challenges she was facing. “I’ve been homeless, and it’s important to me not to get back to that situation. People going through evictions should know they have a couple of options. They can work with the property manager to come up with a payment plan or pay with a lump sum. There is a process. I feel optimistic, I have a plan.”
Henrico Courts statistics provided by the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society showed there have been approximately 150 unlawful detainer filings each week since reopening at the beginning of July. A June 29 report by the RVA Eviction Lab showed that there were 945 eviction cases pending in the Henrico courts.
‘It can feel alienating and unsettling’
In addition to Henrico County, several local nonprofits are working to assist those in danger of losing their housing. One such group is Area Congregations Together in Service, which is providing rent and mortgage relief for individuals and families. Applicants are asked to fill out an online form to connect to a caseworker.
These efforts scratch the surface of the anticipated crisis, as local residents face dramatic job and financial losses in an area already distinguished for high eviction rates. At 11.44% per 100 households, the Richmond area claims the second highest levels of evictions in the country, as documented by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University. Its data showed there were 6,345 evictions in Richmond in 2016, amounting to 17 households being expelled from housing every day.
With Virginia’s eviction moratorium lifted on June 29, a representative from the nascent Richmond Tenants Union who asked not to be named said that the all-volunteer group has been focusing primarily on the city of Richmond to organize tenant councils and associations and to help renters in dire financial straits understand and address the eviction process.
“A lot more people are falling back on rent,” the member said. “There’s going to be a massive eviction wave. So we are trying to inform tenants of their rights. We are trying to go to buildings and developments where there are a number of evictions in process and asking people if they want to get together to talk about the process. It can feel alienating and unsettling.”
But the capacity of the grassroots organization doesn’t reach into Henrico because of the COVID-19 social distancing restrictions and the outsized need in the city of Richmond. She said her organization seeks more volunteers to expand into Henrico, especially Spanish speakers who can convey the importance of informing renters of the ways to knowledgeably maintain stable housing.
She warned of the many scenarios where late fees and court fees are further tacked onto renters’ debts. She also cautioned renters that a verbal warning by landlords of an eviction by a certain date is not sufficiently legal and that renters need to explore and understand their rights and resources.
The RVA Eviction Lab, housed at Virginia Commonwealth University identified more than 1,000 eviction filings across 108 properties in the region that appear to have been filed despite those properties being covered under the CARES Act eviction moratorium, in effect until July 25 – with 133 of these households in Henrico.
Heenan said statistics don’t tell the whole story.
“A lot of renters leave voluntarily,” said Heenan. “In other cases, landlords use the judgement to hold over the [renters’] heads to make sure the renters stay current on the rent. Or landlords say: ‘I’m not going to make repairs. I’m going to move to evict.’”
Central Virginia Legal Aid Society is one of the groups advocating to Governor Ralph Northam for an extended eviction moratorium.
“Thousands of evictions are being done on any given year,” said Heenan. “Each eviction is not just a tenant, it’s a family, each [often] has a spouse and children. Behind each case is an impact on a family and a community.”
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Resources for those facing eviction:
• The Henrico County COVID-19 Rental Assistance program will continue while funding is available. Additional information is available from Social Services and by calling (804) 501-5294. Applications are available for pick up at Social Services’ offices at 8600 Dixon Powers Drive and 3820 Nine Mile Road;
• Area Congregations Together in Service (ACTS) Rent and Mortgage Relief – (804) 644-2401;
• Central Virginia Legal Aid Society – (804) 648-1012;
• Tenant Resources from the Virginia Attorney General's Office;
