Challenges Await But Rent Relief Remains Strong
By Tommy Herbert, VAMA Manager of Government Affairs
As Virginia returns to a semblance of normal order in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, some things that the virus brought may be hanging around; namely rent relief.
As the July 31st expiration of the CDC eviction moratorium nears, and as Virginia’s own eviction pandemic procedures lapse, there still remains a large (and growing) amount of money dedicated to housing providers and the goal of keeping residents who have been financially injured by the virus in their housing. The Virginia Rent Relief Program has distributed over 250 million dollars of aid, but that leaves more than half of the funds that the federal government has and will send still ready and waiting to be used.
Under the original Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funds, Virginia received roughly 525 million dollars, as well as the counties of Chesterfield and Fairfax receiving 10 million and 34 million-dollar disbursements of their own respectively. Added to those totals, a further 350 million will come down from the Emergency Rental Assistance 2 (ERA2) grants to the Commonwealth, as well as roughly 100 million divided amongst a broader group of counties, including: Arlington, Chesapeake city, Chesterfield, Henrico, Fairfax, Loudoun, Norfolk city, Prince William County, Richmond city, and Virginia Beach city. The reason for this broader distribution is that under ERA2, the threshold for a locality to be able to apply on their own for the grants was lowered from 1 million residents to 200,000 residents, freeing up many Virginia localities to apply on their own for the grants. This means that these localities will be tasked with setting up their own rent relief programs, which will take their residents out of eligibility for the statewide RRP.
VAMA will be communicating with these local governments as well as with the state program as these new local rent relief programs become a reality. Having worked extremely hard on improving Virginia’s RRP, VAMA wants to make sure that localities can draw on the factors that have led Virginia’s program to be a model to the nation so that we can avoid any administrative barriers to participation. Indeed, given that the money allocated for these programs is so plentiful, as is the need and the eligible group of residents, VAMA expects rent relief programs to be distributing money at the very least for the rest of 2021, and very likely into 2022. Have a look at the original ERA1 allocations here, and at the new ERA2 allocations here.
As breathless tenants’ advocates await what they see as an inevitable tidal flood of evictions to appear, VAMA wants to remind you that these resources are plentiful and if your residents qualify they are a sure way to be made whole for the rent that residents have accrued. Virginia’s Rent Relief Program application can be accessed by housing providers here, and VAMA has produced a helpful setup video with help from Virginia Housing here.
There remain legal remedies in place that residents can use during and after court in an Unlawful Detainer case, including a 60-day stay available for 90 days after the end of the emergency, mandates for the offering of payment plans pre-filing, and an unlimited right of redemption that allows a resident to pay down to a zero balance and stay up to 48 hours before the Sheriff executes the eviction. Further, it has become clear that there is a lack of common understanding amongst Virginia’s various local General District Courts regarding how the varying levels of governmental response on the eviction process overlay each other, which has led to an extremely confusing and inconsistent process for housing providers in the various localities to actually obtain possession in simple nonpayment of rent cases.
At the rate that the ERA and ERA2 funds are being disbursed, there will be a pathway to be made whole and avoid a filing altogether long into the foreseeable future, and VAMA is here as a resource for members to help make sure that they can help their residents stay in their homes by getting back and future rent paid where those residents are eligible. These funds are already appropriated, so it is vital that we take advantage of them while they are available. If you have any questions on how to apply for RRP, or what residents are eligible, please send an email to Tommy Herbert at tommy@vamaonline.org.