‘It’s been a struggle,’ as tenants, landlords apply for $29 million to stop evictions

Mindy Tuel has been in and out of Fayette District Court seven times in the past few months, trying to resolve her late rent before she was evicted.

Today’s appearance, she hoped, would be the charm. All that was required was an income verification form, and then rent money from Lexington’s Housing Stabilization Program would go directly to her landlord.

“It’s been a struggle,” said Tuel, a restaurant worker whose hours were dramatically reduced during the pandemic. She was at Monday’s court appearance with property manager Joe Altscul. He’s been trying to help numerous clients wade through the sometimes byzantine application process required by the federal government, which gave Lexington $29 million to make sure COVID didn’t dramatically increase Lexington’s homeless population.

“It’s good they’re helping,” he said of the fund, but “it’s been a pain in the ass.”

Monday was the first day of eviction court since the CDC’s eviction on moratoriums expired Saturday. But instead of a flood, there was a slow, steady procession of cases before District Judge Bruce Bell. Sitting at one table was Jonathan Wright, project director of the stabilization, who confirmed the 15 cases in which people had applications in play or already approved.

“I think it’s going well,” Wright said. “The big need that everyone acknowledged is that we continue to speed up and increase the volume of approved applications.”

That processing has been helped by more staff, new software and a contract with Legal Aid of the Bluegrass to help provide wrap around services for people who may not know they need to show up in court, or make sure landlords are playing by the rules. They can’t get any money if they evict someone before the application is resolved. The Catholic Action Center also helps out with volunteers in court to help people as they move through the process.

“I don’t see better yet, I see promises of better,” said Ginny Ramsey, founder of the Catholic Action Center. “I’m hoping this is going to work, I know this is taking some action that should help.”

Ramsey pointed out that there are plenty of landlords who don’t evict people through the courts, which makes it hard for tenants to apply for the funds. “This weekend, some landlords started putting people out,” she said.

Lexington has received about 4,000 applications so far, and resolved about 750. The slow pace is echoed nationally, according to the Treasury Department, which found only $3 billion of the $47 billion allocated by Congress was provided to about 630,000 households by June 30. That’s less than 4% of the money allotted.

Still, for a program that started in February, it’s helping at least curb what could have been an avalanche of homelessness. “If there was no program to help people get back on their feet, we could have had thousands more evictions,” Wright said.

Lexington and Fayette County residents should apply to the program at covid19renterhelp.org. If you don’t have internet access and need help applying online, call the Catholic Action Center at 502-783-7211 to set up an appointment. No walk-ins or drop-ins are allowed.

Eligibility requirements include:

▪ Being at 80 percent or below of median income.

▪ Have certification that a household member has qualified for unemployment benefits or has experienced a reduction in household income, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

▪ Have certification that the household is at risk of homelessness by a pending eviction or a past due notice or unsafe or unhealthy living condition.

Eligible landlords must:

▪ Forgive all late fees, penalties, and interest related to nonpayment of rent.

▪ Agree not to evict over past due rent prior to March 2020.

▪ Have a current rental agreement.

▪ Agree to give 45 days’ notice for any future eviction, not to be initiated until at least 30 days after assistance concludes.

▪ Both the landlord and tenant must agree to apply to the program.