Faith Leaders, Tenants Issue Urgent New Call for Governor to Place Immediate Ban on Evictions

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‘Time has run out for vulnerable families’

 

NORTHERN VIJuly 29, 2020 – Saying there are no options left, VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) today renewed its call for Gov. Ralph Northam to issue an immediate pause on evictions to give time for a robust rent relief program and renter protections to take effect in the state.

 

“Governor, time has run out for thousands of vulnerable families already suffering the effects of the pandemic. This action is past due. You have tried every other avenue. There is no option left but to do this to ensure that renters get immediate protection,” said Rev. Dr. Keith Savage, VOICE Co-Chair and Pastor of First Baptist Church in Manassas.

 

Late last week, the Governor asked the Virginia Supreme Court to halt eviction proceedings in General District Courts. Northam earlier had asked the General District Court judges to halt proceedings in individual courts, but almost none agreed.

 

Attorney General Mark Herring has issued an advisory opinion saying that the Governor has both statutory and executive authority to issue emergency orders.

 

Noting that the Governor has been willing to go to court to defend his restrictions on restaurants, churches, gyms, and other places during the pandemic, Savage urged Northam to impose a temporary ban on evictions through at the earliest the end of August or until the numbers of families served through his new Rent and Mortgage Relief Program increase considerably.

 

Action by the Governor would address, not only cases moving through the courts, but also the many instances in which renters self-evict, said Rev. Clyde W. Ellis, Jr., senior pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church in Woodbridge. Based on national experience, only about half of tenants facing eviction actually go to court; the rest move out beforehand. “In the midst of a resurgence of the pandemic in Virginia, with many children starting the school year learning from home, it is critical that the Governor act now, immediately, to ensure the health, safety, and security of our Commonwealth’s children and their parents,” he said.

 

He noted that up to 329,000 children in K-12 schools in Virginia live in homes where the family has already missed rent or has slight to no confidence they will make next month’s rent, based on a U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey.

 

The Northam administration in early July implemented the $50 million rent relief program in cooperation with local partners. VOICE found in talks with its member congregations, people they support with food and rent assistance, and the state’s local partners that aid is not getting disbursed quickly enough to help the 12,000+ families already facing eviction in early July.

 

Problems with the Governor’s new relief program range from: startup issues inherent to any new or suddenly expanded program, reflected in the Virginia Employment Commission experience with pandemic unemployment insurance; a flood of requests for assistance that are already in the pipeline locally, which are delaying local partners’ responses; limited outreach about the program that has left renters unaware; documentation that has discouraged families, especially non-native English speakers and those who have limited Internet access; and the prospect that landlords will opt out of the program because of concessions that are required.

 

Meanwhile, federal eviction protections that covered about a third of tenants ended last week. Enhanced federal unemployment benefits are also expiring, which will tighten the financial squeeze that already exists for many families.

 

The Census Bureau survey early in July found that a quarter of Americans either missed last month’s rent or mortgage payment or have little to no confidence that they can pay next month’s rent or mortgage on time. That means more than half a million tenants in Virginia could be at risk of losing their homes.

 

The situation is even worse for renters of color: 48.3% of all Virginia renters of color have no confidence or slight confidence that they will make rent on Aug. 1^st.

 

Rev. Dr. Darrell King of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Gum Springs, Alexandria, noted that, given the impact of systemic racism on housing and the general economy, many of the low- and moderate-income tenants living on the edge and facing eviction in Virginia are people of color. “I don’t understand the Governor’s thinking,” he said. “He fought to get the Robert E. Lee statue removed in Richmond, which I applaud, but we have people of color here and now who need the Governor to fight to help them stay in their homes during this pandemic.”

 

VOICE is calling for the pause in evictions to give the program time to work, to increase awareness of the rent assistance it provides, and to publicize the protections afforded renters by HB 340, passed by the General Assembly in April but based on reports from tenant attorneys largely unknown to renters, landlords, and judges. The legislation allows for a judicial reprieve for renters who can prove their ability to pay rent has been affected by the pandemic. VOICE also is calling for additional funding for the program to meet the need of at least $200 million through the summer alone.

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