Eviction Crisis: McKee Admin Fails to Distribute Federal Rent Support Money - Just $8M of $200M
Sunday, August 01, 2021
At midnight on Saturday, the federal moratorium barring evictions expired.
Congress failed to take action and President Joe Biden said that the federal funds approved in December by Congress under Donald Trump’s tenure are now the only remaining firewall.
Rhode Island received its $200 million in February and to date has distributed just over 4% — only $8.1 million. Moreover, the state's response to the crisis is ranked second-worst in New England.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTGovernor Dan McKee’s office refused to criticize RIHousing — the agency administering the program — and, in fact, sent the exact same quotes and said they should be attributed to the governor’s staff despite having already been sent to GoLocal by RIHousing.
McKee’s office and RIHousing’s confusion aside, the sunset on the moratorium opens the way for thousands of evictions in Rhode Island.
According to the New York Times, more than 12% of Rhode Island renters are behind in their rent and could face eviction proceedings. Princeton University says there are 365,613 Rhode Islanders living in rental units.
The firewall against massive evictions in Rhode Island was supposed to be the federally Emergency Rental Assistance program.
President Joe Biden said in a statement on Friday, "I call on all state and local governments to take all possible steps to immediately disburse these funds given the imminent ending of the CDC eviction moratorium. State and local governments began receiving Emergency Rental Assistance funding in February and were eligible for an additional $21.5 billion passed in the American Rescue Plan. Five months later, with localities across the nation showing that they can deliver funds effectively – there can be no excuse for any state or locality not accelerating funds to landlords and tenants that have been hurt during this pandemic.”
But while Biden says he willl not accept failure, Rhode Island appears to be willing to.
“Every state and local government must get these funds out to ensure we prevent every eviction we can. State and local governments can and should use both the Emergency Rental Assistance and their American Rescue Plan state and local funds to support policies with courts, community groups, and legal aid to ensure no one seeks an eviction when they have not sought out Emergency Rental Assistance funds. State and local governments should also be aware that there is no legal barrier to moratorium at the state and local level,” added Biden.
RI Second Worst in New England
Princeton's Eviction Lab has created a scorecard, "As states grapple with how to protect citizens during and in the recovery from the pandemic, this scorecard provides comprehensive information about the varying approaches state-by-state."
Rhode Island not only ranks second-worst in New England, but also one of the poorest ranked in America according to Princeton's rankings.
Rhode Island ranks poorly for legislative action in combatting the crisis. As GoLocal reported in January, Rhode Island Speaker of the House-Elect Joseph Shekarchi’s law firm has been tied to dozens of eviction hearings in the past five years plus representing the Warwick Housing Authority (WHA).
Court records show that both Shekarchi and his associate Joseph Brennan combined have filed numerous eviction notices in 2020 including right up until the pandemic hit in March, before evictions were put on hold first by executive orders and then by the federal government.
RIHousing Claims the Program Is Now Working Better and Months of Delays and Technology Failures
"Regarding the lifting of the moratorium, the program has worked to resolve all applicants who had a judgment entered against them during the pandemic and would be subject to that order being executed when the moratorium lifts," said Christine Hunsinger, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer for RIHousing. "Additionally, we work closely with the Court, the Center for Justice, Rhode Island Legal Services, and on the ground partners who are present in the courthouses to offer assistance even on the day an eviction hearing is happening. We are working to meet each person where they are and to provide them the assistance they need in applying to the program and in clearing their past due rent."
As GoLocal reported in June, it took nearly a month for RIHousing to sign a contract with the state of Rhode Island. Then, the first technology partner was hired by RIHousing in February -- and had to be replaced.
According to one RIHousing document, the web portal for landlords to use failed almost immediately after launch. The tech vendor first selected was Allita, a Columbus, Ohio-based vendor.
The portal did not go live until March 31, and by April 8, problems with the site were rampant. “Landlord portal taken down for ten days,” states a RIHousing document. By April 18, “[It] became clear that issue could not be resolved team began exploring options for different platform, Selected vendor in compliance with purchasing requirements.”
The new vendor Yardi launched the replacement platform and that went live on May 20. But, since the launch of the replacement technology, only 0.6 percent of the funds have been awarded. The state faces a critical deadline on ensuring that 60% of the funds or $120 million are awarded by the end of September or the federal government can take back the remaining funds. The program sunset in September of 2022.
Yardi, can make significant fees for their role in the program. It is being paid a $20,000 set up fee and $10 per application and $10 per payment -- this could generate as much as a million or more in total for the tech company.
Now, Hunsinger says, "We are close to resolving all of the completed applications and we are actively performing outreach through email, phone, text and on the ground partners to make sure that everyone who has created an account knows to come in and complete their application and has help to do that if they need it. We are also actively working to make sure everyone knows about the program and that everyone who is eligible for assistance applies."
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