Dear DHRC members and partners,

Join Monday’s (August 31) national call on coronavirus, disasters, housing, and homelessness at 2:30-4:00pm ET. We will hear updates on the devastation wrought by Hurricane Laura in the Gulf Coast, the wildfires in California, and the massive storms in Iowa. We will also learn about a framework for racial equity for neighborhood rental assistance and discuss the state of play between the White House and Congress on a coronavirus relief package, getting the essential housing and homelessness provisions in the House-passed “HEROES Act” enacted, and working with Congress on other disaster housing response legislation. We will discuss what advocates can do and review advocacy resources available to them. Register for the call here: https://tinyurl.com/ru73qan

Please continue putting pressure on your members of Congress, especially Senate Republicans, to restart negotiations and pass a coronavirus relief package that includes the essential housing and homelessness provisions in the House-passed “HEROES Act.”

Take action today:

1. Call and email your senators and representatives. Tell them to #DoYourJob, get back to the negotiating table, and immediately pass the essential housing provisions of the HEROES Act. Find the phone numbers of your members of Congress here or send an email. Find a sample script here.
2. Use NLIHC’s Advocacy Toolkit to schedule meetings with members of Congress and engage with them on housing talking points.
3. Amplify personal stories, news articles, blog posts, and other information on social media about how congressional inaction is exacerbating evictions and harming people with the lowest incomes. Use #GetBackToWork, #DoYourJob, and #RentReliefNow. Use NLIHC’s Social Media Toolkit for sample posts and images. Find additional sample social media posts for the Day of Action here.
4. Share stories of how the threat of being evicted has impacted your well-being through NLIHC’s story banking form. We will share these stories with members of Congress, reporters, and on social media.
5. Pitch op-eds to your local newspapers about the need for Congress to restart negotiations and how the pandemic is harming low-income renters and people experiencing homelessness. NLIHC’s #RentReliefNow Media Toolkit contains an op-ed template to help get you started.
    

Additional updates below.

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Coronavirus Update, Friday, August 28, 2020

Please note that NLIHC hosts weekly national calls on coronavirus, disaster, housing, and homelessness on Mondays at 2:30pm. The call is this coming Monday, August 31 from 2:30pm to 4:00pm ET. We will address these most recent natural disasters and how they will compound the housing and homelessness impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will hear updates from people living in impacted communities, as well as from national partners and policymakers. Register for the call here: https://tinyurl.com/ru73qan

NLIHC is maintaining a COVID-19/Housing and Homelessness News and Resource page here.

ICYMI: Partners leading the work on the Framework for an Equitable COVID-19 Homelessness Response released the Emergency Rental Assistance Priority Index to help local decisionmakers target areas where resources are likely to have the greatest impact on reducing housing instability and homelessness. The index emphasizes an equitable approach, accounting for risk factors that are higher for certain groups, particularly Black, Indigenous, and Latinx renters.

National Updates  

Department of Housing and Urban Development

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on August 27 extended its foreclosure and eviction moratorium through December 31, 2020 for homeowners with FHA-insured single family mortgages covered under the CARES Act. While this action does provide foreclosure relief to some homeowners, it does not protect a single renter from eviction.

Federal Housing Finance Agency

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will extend the moratorium on single-family foreclosures and real estate owned evictions until at least December 31, 2020. NLIHC notes that this action stops evictions for only a very small share of renters.

Advocacy

The NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) will continue to push for a broad array of resources and protections, including emergency rental assistance and eviction prevention assistance, a national moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, and emergency funds for homelessness service providers, housing authorities, and housing providers, among other recommendations. For more information, see DHRC’s full list of recommendations.

As with other disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic, NLIHC’s DHRC stands ready to convene and support disaster-impacted communities to ensure that federal disaster recovery efforts reach all impacted households, including the lowest-income and most marginalized people who are often the hardest-hit by disasters and have the fewest resources to recover.

Reporting

Despite being one of the populations at greatest risk of contracting and becoming severely ill from the coronavirus, people experiencing homelessness have been largely ‘invisible victims of the crisis.’ The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism developed a vulnerability index to understand which counties’ homeless populations might struggle the most in a COVID-19 outbreak.

The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found that, as of early August, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had distributed less than one-third of the $4 billion provided by the CARES Act.
HuffPost discusses how Cincinnati’s new law requiring landlords to accept alternatives to a security deposit could help renters survive the pandemic-triggered eviction crisis. NLIHC’s Diane Yentel says that alternatives to security deposits provide much-needed assistance to get families into homes, but there is an urgent need to address the underlying causes of the U.S.’ affordable housing crisis.

Mother Jones reports that housing advocates and voting experts are concerned that the U.S.’ upcoming eviction crisis will create barriers to voting by mail. “Those who are being most impacted by the COVID crisis may end up being largely excluded from the democratic process as a result,” says Brian Miller, executive director of Nonprofit VOTE.

Diana Li, an eviction lawyer at the Legal Aid Society, spoke to Vox about the long-standing structural issues the pandemic has brought to light, the lack of respect landlords have for the moratorium, and why New York’s court system was not prepared for pandemic.

State and Local News

A list of state and local emergency rental assistance programs is available here from NLIHC.

Alaska

A large outbreak of coronavirus infections linked to an Anchorage homeless shelter has spiked to 61. City officials have confirmed infections in 60 people who stayed at the shelter and one staff member, but they expect the outbreak has impacted more.

California

The Los Angeles Times editorial board questions why state leaders have taken a “shockingly lackadaisical attitude” toward the impending eviction crisis. California’s eviction moratorium is set to expire in less than a week, and state leaders have not acted to prevent an eviction tsunami.

Santa Clara County’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously August 25 to extend the county’s eviction moratorium through at least September 30. The extension comes weeks after a recent analysis predicted 43,490 renter households in Santa Clara County could lose their homes if the moratorium was lifted.

Colorado

Governor Jared Polis announced on August 26 a new temporary task force within the Department of Local Affairs to examine housing instability due to COVID-19 in Colorado. The announcement of the Special Evictions Prevention Task Force met criticism from housing advocates who have urged Governor Polis to reinstate an eviction moratorium and ban on rental late fees. Additionally, an attorney with the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project noted that the task force’s 10-person roster didn’t represent renters, including advocates who specialize in eviction defense.

Florida

Within hours of the Orange County eviction diversion program portal opening, more than one thousand tenants had applied for assistance.

WUSF reports that a Florida landlord informally evicted a family by cutting off water and power to the unit and removing the family’s furniture. By making living conditions so untenable for the family, the landlord effectively removed them from the unit without a formal eviction process.

Georgia

WABE reports that as federal eviction protections have expired, tenants in metro Atlanta are feeling the effects.

Hawaii

Catherine Pirkle, a University of Hawaii at Manoa public health professor, told NBC News that overcrowded living situations in Hawaii can lead to clusters of positive coronavirus cases. Many Hawaii households contain multiple generations and crowding is common, especially for low-income households, making social distancing impossible.

Illinois

Skokie officials voted unanimously on August 17 to allocate $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding for rental assistance. The Evanston-based Connections for Homeless will distribute the rental assistance.

Massachusetts

A Suffolk Superior Court judge denied a request to preliminary block Massachusetts officials from enforcing the state’s eviction moratorium. Judge Paul Wilson referred to stable housing as a “crucial component” of containing COVID-19 in Massachusetts.

Missouri

Missouri renters are facing growing risks of eviction alongside the COVID-19 pandemic and rising rents. The Coalition to Protect Missouri Tenants sent a letter on August 20 to Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice George Draper III, asking for a statewide eviction moratorium that lasts at least six months. The letter stated that over the next four months, an estimated 243,000 evictions will be filed across the state.

Nevada

Despite statewide rental assistance funds dwindling across Nevada and the Legislature-approved eviction mediation program not open yet, the eviction moratorium is set to expire August 31. The Guinn Center for Policy Priorities predicts 270,000 Nevada households could face eviction once the moratorium expires. The need for rental assistance far exceeds the $30 million Nevada allocated to it.

New York

Tenants and housing advocates rallied outside Troy City Court on August 27 to protest against evictions. There were about 30 landlord-tenant proceedings on the Troy City Court scheduled for August 27. VOCAL-NY, a grassroots advocacy organization, says that despite New York’s eviction moratorium, property owners are using pre-COVID-19 paperwork to pursue evictions.

An op-ed penned by Dave Giffen and Giselle Routhier of the Coalition for the Homeless in the New York Daily News discusses the vocal NIMBY voices urging officials to prematurely move people residing in hotels to congregate settings. The authors urge New Yorkers to stop dehumanizing people experiencing homelessness and instead act with compassion and reason.

Ohio

The Ohio Capital Journal reports that Governor Mike DeWine on August 20 announced that given limited resources, he had to prioritize fighting the coronavirus over assisting low-income Ohioans. Advocates, however, argue that it will be more difficult to stop the spread of COVID-19 as Ohioans become more vulnerable to evictions, food insecurity, and homelessness.

Pennsylvania

Up to 500,000 households across Pennsylvania could be evicted once the statewide moratorium ends September 1. Governor Tom Wolf said he does not have the power to extend the eviction moratorium, meaning the Republican-controlled legislature would have to extend it.

Utah

Evictions cases in Utah have climbed a month after federal protections for some renters expired. Utah landlords filed 354 evictions in July and 569 evictions in August.

Virginia

Arlington County added $1.1 million from its COVID-19 contingent account to its existing eviction protection fund, bringing the total amount allocated for eviction prevention to $3.5 million just since July 1, the beginning of the county’s fiscal year 2021. “Given the fact of diminished support from the federal government and the continuation of community spread of the virus, we believe the need for rent assistance is likely to continue to increase in coming months,” said County Board Chair Libby Garvey.

Virginia legislators introduced a bill (HB 5111) to halt evictions until 60 days after Virginia’s state of emergency ends. One Northern Virginia resident said that if the House and Senate bills are not passed, he and his family could become homeless.

Washington

Spokane’s next round of rental assistance will be directed at young adults who have fallen behind on rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The city accepted a $668,000 grant on August 24 to provide rental assistance to young adults.

Washington, DC

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia used Stout’s tool to estimate that approximately 57,000 households in Washington D.C. will be at risk of eviction when the moratorium expires in December. There are significant racial disparities in renters’ ability to pay rent, reflecting the District’s racial wealth gap prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guidance

Department of Housing and Urban Development

COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Mitigating the Spread - Washington DC Shelter Profile – August 28

COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Equity Capacity Building - Hiring, Supervision, Training – August 28

COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Racial Trauma and Trauma-Informed Services – August 28

COVID-19 Homeless System Response: HMIS Budget and Staffing – August 28 Natural Disaster Updates

Federal Action & National News

FEMA

FEMA announced on August 27 that Arkansas has been approved for emergency protective measures (Category B) under FEMA’s Public Assistance program to supplement state and local response efforts to Hurricane Laura.

Reporting

NLIHC’s Diane Yentel spoke with Marketplace about the resources needed to evacuate safely from disaster zones. The article highlights how the pandemic and subsequent economic fallout are creating additional barriers to evacuating.

NPR reports that according to FEMA administrators, it could take another day or so until officials get a full picture of Hurricane Laura’s impact in Texas and Louisiana.

Iowa Derecho

Dozens of families were left without shelter after being given only two days’ notice to vacate their apartment complex in Cedar Rapids for storm damage repairs. Many of the residents do not have the resources to move and are non-English speakers. The number of people experiencing homelessness is estimated to have doubled due to the Iowa derecho.

The Washington Post reports that the pandemic has complicated the disaster crisis response. Many Iowans left homeless due to the derecho have been reluctant to go to traditional shelters for fear of contracting the virus and have been camping in tents or staying in damaged homes.

Hundreds of refugee families in eastern Iowa are homeless after this month’s derecho. The Refugee Alliance of Central Iowa says there are approximately 250 people displaced by the derecho.