A “stop evictions” sign by Lynn Friedman licensed under Creative Commons.

On June 29, Virginia launched the Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program (RMRP), which uses $50 million in funding from the CARES Act to provide assistance to renters and homeowners. The relief program launched the same day Virginia’s statewide evictions moratorium expired, meaning that thousands of people can now be called to court for overdue rent or mortgage payments.

More than 386,000 people in Virginia are currently unemployed and the state reported more than 800,000 unemployment claims since March through mid-June, and 250,000 of these coming from Northern Virginia from March through late June. Despite the moratorium, landlords and leasing companies are still pressuring tenants to pay.

With the moratorium lifted and rent due on July 1, some advocates have suggested that the program’s timing would not allow for enough people to get assistance before evictions begin. Governor Ralph Northam requested that district courts delay evictions until July 20 so that residents can get assistance. Several counties, however, are choosing to proceed with eviction hearings. In Alexandria, Mayor Justin Wilson requested that the general district court delay evictions and Jeff McKay, the Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, has done the same.

Who is eligible for the relief program?

Renters and mortgage holders are eligible for relief under the following requirements, according to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD):

  • Have a valid lease or mortgage statement in their name or other documentation confirming the landlord-tenant relationship; and
  • Have experienced a loss of income due to the Coronavirus pandemic including but not limited to:
    • Those who have been laid off;
    • Those whose place of employment has closed;
    • Those who have experienced a reduction in hours of work;
    • Those who must stay home to care for children due to closure of day care and/or school;
    • Those who have lost child or spousal support;
    • Those who have not been able to work or missed hours due to contracting COVID-19;
    • Those who have been unable to find work due to COVID-19; or
    • Those whose are unwilling or unable to participate in their previous employment due to their high risk of severe illness from COVID-19; and
    • Have a rent or mortgage amount that is at or below 150% Fair Market Rent (FMR)
    • Have a gross household income at or below 80% area medium income (AMI) (based on current month’s income). From June 29, 2020 through July 20, 2020, programs will prioritize households with a current gross household income at or below 50 percent AMI. The determination of income includes any unemployment insurance received by a member of the household but does not include one-time payments such as a stimulus check.

Northam tweeted that the DHCD “will do targeted outreach to communities of color — those experiencing disproportionately high eviction rates before the pandemic are most vulnerable now. And we will prioritize households without federal or state protections, and those currently facing court proceedings.”

Northam’s press release says that households with an unlawful detainer (also known as an eviction notice) dated before June 8 will be prioritized alongside those who meet the financial requirements.

The income limitations may make some renters and homeowners ineligible to get benefits through the RMRP but they may qualify for other programs. The site instructs residents who are not eligible for rent and mortgage relief to visit Virginia’s 2-1-1 site or dial 2-1-1, which connects residents with social services.

How much will it help?

“We think that the need dwarfs the amount that has been set aside,” said Elaine Poon, Managing Attorney of the Legal Aid Justice Center’s Charlottesville office. Poon pointed out that the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimated that the state would need $2.3 billion in emergency rental assistance in 2020.

“If you can pay to prevent eviction you need to do that, versus waiting for an eviction filing against you and the black mark on your rental history that a new landlord will look at. We want people to have the rent money before that happens,” Poon said. She said that in Charlottesville, a $2 million fund ran out of money quickly because so many people needed assistance. “It wasn’t just rent, it was food. People didn’t have food. There were lots of people who were already living on the edge before the pandemic.”

Evictions connect to other social justice issues

As a result of Virginia’s landlord-friendly laws, Richmond has the second highest number of evictions among cities and the top 15 cities that are evicting include six Virginia cities. RVA Eviction Lab examined eviction filings by zip code and race, and found that higher Black and Hispanic populations in Richmond aligned with a higher amount of eviction filings. This is due to Richmond’s (and Virginia’s) history of segregation and Jim Crow laws that have contributed to concentrating poverty.

In a recent report, The RVA Eviction Lab wrote that the U.S. Census’s Housing Pulse Survey, conducted specifically to document the effects of COVID-19 on American households, showed that 30 percent of Virginia renters who responded have “no confidence or “slight” confidence that they will be able to pay rent for the month of July, including 50% of Black renters, a quarter of whom report they have no confidence in being able to pay rent.”

This moratorium expiration is not the first time courts have moved forward with eviction hearings during the pandemic. Courts closed in March but reopened in May before the Supreme Court of Virginia granted Northam’s first request to order an eviction moratorium, which closed the courts.

Poon said that the Legal Aid Justice Center’s attorneys saw up to 30 evictions “in one fell swoop” on the first day courts reopened. The Legal Aid Justice Center’s attorneys are now asking courts to delay evictions, but it can be difficult to call each court separately and also see whether individual judges are amenable to delaying evictions. In 2018, there were 155,000 eviction filings statewide.

Renters’ rights in Virginia are very limited. For example, residents are not entitled to legal representation when a landlord files an eviction notice. This leaves many residents to navigate housing courts alone or with few resources unless they can find assistance through a local advocacy group or legal aid association.

“If something goes wrong in the courtroom, like your witness is unable to come, and you’re behind on rent, the appeal process is very hard. If you’re not a lawyer it is impossible to navigate,” Poon said. She said statistics have shown that tenants with legal representation are more successful in court hearings.

Evictions can also be considered a public health issue. People who are evicted experience stress and instability in their housing and community. After an eviction, low income residents may also be forced to move into substandard housing which can contain mold, asbestos, and other dangers that can affect health.

Policing plays a role in evictions

In many states, including Virginia, sheriff’s departments serve eviction notices and are the last step in the eviction process when a tenant has not vacated their home and the landlord has obtained a Writ of Possession from the court. This video from The Washington Post shows part of this process, wherein sheriffs in Richmond change locks and check homes for tenants. Sheriffs do this despite the fact that late rent payments are not considered a criminal offense in Virginia.

“When I first started as a legal aid attorney I interacted with a lot of refugee families and…when a sheriff [would] come to their door and put a document on their door, it’s terrifying because they have no idea how the court system works,” Poon said, adding that families could become so fearful they would move away as soon as they received an eviction letter.

Policing experts and advocates for reform, defunding, and abolition have highlighted the need to shift police responsibilities so that officers are not responding to evictions. A tenet of the abolition movement is to affirm that housing is a right and that evictions are a cruel practice that should be ended permanently, not just during a pandemic.

Ending evictions would remove one aggressive tactic that landlords have when they want to sell their buildings and force courts to create alternatives for residents to get assistance rather than place residents in a situation where they may experience homelessness and instability.

What’s next?

Residents who may be eligible for rent and mortgage relief must call their local provider. The Legal Aid Justice Center is asking Northam to order an eviction moratorium through an executive order. Senator Elizabeth Warren also introduced the Protecting Renters From Evictions and Fees Act, which would implement a national moratorium on evictions for a year and protect most renters from eviction based on late payment. The HEROES Act is currently in the Senate, and it also has a federal moratorium on evictions.

Any residents who are interested in understanding more about evictions and getting involved may consider becoming trained to be court watchers, who sit in courtrooms and observe proceedings. Poon said that this helps advocates understand better how quickly residents can lose their homes. There are also several events this week, including advocacy and educational events at the general district courts of Richmond and Alexandria on Wednesday at 11 am.