Federal fund provides hope for locals
On August 26, when the Supreme Court issued its opinion on the rent moratorium put in place by the Biden administration, it was unknown how many renters might be evicted from their homes as a result. The opinion stated the CDC had exceeded its authority in preventing property owners from evicting tenants for nonpayment of rent due to Covid-related factors.
In Davidson County, which is currently a high-risk area for Covid, the recent positivity rate for Covid testing was 17.1 percent. The percentage vaccinated according to CDC numbers is 45.38 percent with one dose and 41.43 percent fully vaccinated. Eighty-eight counties in North Carolina are considered elevated risk at this time. That means residents can expect to see people out of work due to Covid or hospitalized with the attendant expenses. Sadly, businesses are running without a full complement of staff and less people are shopping because of reduced income. Does that mean there will be more people on the streets, more homeless, due to the end of the rent eviction moratorium?
This is where the NC HOPE/Rebuild NC Fund may step in to help. North Carolina received funds from the federal government through various grants set up for coronavirus relief. As of the end of June, only a small percentage of the available funds had been accessed. With the end of the moratorium, an effort has been made to make the process more user friendly and less cumbersome. Property owners are being asked to refer tenants who might qualify under Hope Fund regulations. These funds may be used to cover rent and utilities if the renter is unable to pay either through job loss, reduced hours or sickness due to coronavirus.
Evans Properties, in Lexington, has worked to help tenants get through the process and receive help. Frank Callicutt at Evans said that due to the confusion surrounding the several moratoriums, they have mostly treated the situation as though a moratorium is still in place. They have reached out to tenants to find out if any rent payments are being affected by issues concerning the virus. If so, they sit down with tenants if they need help and assist them in going through the process of applying for the HOPE Funds. If assistance is received, property owners must agree to allow a tenant another sixty days of occupancy once funds run out.
According to Lisa Martin at Chair City Properties in Thomasville, this can turn into five more months if past rent is owed, and the Hope Fund considers funds applied to future rents. Still, many owners have worked with renters and accepted Hope Funds. Martin also mentioned that as a result of high sales prices on real estate at present and the difficulty many property owners have had in collecting rents and putting through evictions this past year, some owners of rental properties are selling and a few tenants have been evicted due to sales of the properties. This process often leaves less rentals available to the public. Many renters want to purchase due to the low interest rates, but the market is so active that often homes are under contract by the time a potential buyer can view a property.
Tenants must meet the following requirements to receive NC HOPE Funds:
Tenant rents his place of residence
Tenant has been late or facing eviction or is looking at a problem paying rent/ utilities
Tenant has lost income or been unemployed due to Covid-19 or experienced significant hardship due to the pandemic
Tenant’s household income is less or equal to 80 percent of the area median income in his county of residence. (There is a calculation tool for this.)
Tenant lives in one of the 88 NC counties served by the HOPE Program.
A tenant who does not meet these qualifications faces eviction just as he did in the past. Tenant might be sick but not from Covid and not qualify for the funds. As Callicutt explained and Chair City agreed, due to the high demand for rentals in the area, there are not a lot of options at this time available to renters who have been evicted. Without these funds, Davidson County could see more homeless and people infected with Covid on the streets.
Evans staffer, Jan Fritts, who has worked to help tenants get their forms filled out and submitted said it currently takes about a week to get approved. At the time of her interview, she has only seen three renters’ applications turned down. She advised tenants go to the website: https://www.rebuild.nc.gov/hope-program/apply to apply. As previously noted, the tenant needs the involvement of the property owner to complete the process. At this time, only 11-15 percent of available funds have been used. There are flyers available at the Clerk of Courts office in English and Spanish that walk tenants through the application process.
Callicutt believes Davidson County is “unlikely to see a major eviction event due to coronavirus” if people take advantage of these funds and the county remains in the high-risk category. The program has been beneficial to both renters and property owners.
