$2 million in rent relief is a start, but is it enough?
It was welcome news this week that $2 million in federal funding would help combat an onslaught of eviction filings in Shelby County. But, it’s not enough to stave off thousands of eviction filings, according to relief fund organizers.
Eviction court, closed for nearly three months due to the coronavirus pandemic, reopened with a staggering backlog — 9,000 filings waiting to be heard in court. Even worse, attorneys said, that number was likely just the start.
Attorneys with Memphis Area Legal Services and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys Law School sounded the alarm about the backlog in mid
June. Following the revelation of eviction filings, city and county government officials announced a little more than $2 million in funding, largely from the CARES Act would be set aside for the Eviction Settlement Fund.
But those involved with planning the settlement still have concerns. As significant as $2 million in relief funding sounds, those on the ground say they are unsure of how many evictions can be stopped with the existing funding allocation. “Is it enough? We don’t know, honestly,” said Dorcas Young Griffin, Shelby County’s Director of the Division of Community Services.
For starters, Griffin said, the number of tenants who qualify for the settlement fund is still unknown. Innovate Memphis, a non-government organization that focuses on economic vitality in communities, will help tease out the data to figure out which individuals will qualify for the eviction settlement fund.
In NON-COVID times, eviction rates in Shelby County are among the highest in the country, with an average of some 2,500 filed every month, Griffin said.
“Because these are CARES Act dollars, initially we know that we really need to focus on folks whose evictions are directly related to the pandemic,” said Griffin.
Kathryn Ramsey, director of the Medical-legal Partnership at U of M’s law school, also signaled concern about how far the CARES Act funding could stretch. “Two million isn’t very much when all is said and done,” Ramsey said in an email. “Not all of that money is designated for rent arrears — some of it is going to fund an attorney and paralegal at MALS — but even so, we expect the money for arrears will go quickly.”
More specifically, $1,640,000 of the budgeted $2 million will go directly towards the Rental Housing Stabilization Fund, according to a presentation detailing the settlement fund. Other expenses associated with the settlement fund are designated for outreach, attorney wages, and data dissemination.
Ramsey provided a theoretical example illustrating just how quickly the funding in the settlement fund could disburse.
The county’s Community Services Agency, one of several entities working on the settlement fund, currently provides rent arrears grants up to $1000 per tenant. “If even, say, 300 people apply in one month, that’s already $300,000 – so you can see how quickly that money could get spent,” Ramsey said.
If there’s any silver lining to be gleaned from the concerns shared by Griffin and Ramsey, it’s likely the loose guidelines that accompany the CARES Act funding.
The purpose of the CARES Act funding, Griffin explained, is to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. And experts have said being without stable shelter in the middle of a global pandemic heightens the chance for increased community spread. “Initially, all of us are trying to err on the side of caution as to how these dollars can be spent,” Griffin explained. “But, I think we can make the case for looking more broadly at anyone who may be at risk for housing displacement.”
Once staffers at Innovate Memphis comb through the data and calculate a solid number of people in danger of losing their housing, officials will have a clearer idea of how much more help is needed, and how much to ask for.
“I do think the (county) commission and the city council will have an opportunity to put more money, as we get more information about where we are, towards the effort,” Griffin said. “But I don’t want to ask for a whole bunch of money until we really know what we’re working with.”
Micaela A Watts is a breaking news reporter for The Commercial Appeal, and welcomes tips of all kinds in her inbox, at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.