KY eviction crisis presents an opportunity to fix larger housing and equity problems

President Biden has extended the CDC Declaration to Temporarily Halt Evictions until June 30, 2021. This form works as a legal document that protects tenants from being evicted for nonpayment of rent. The COVID-19 Eviction Moratorium does not protect tenants for reasons outside of nonpayment of rent. To receive this protection, every adult on the lease has to sign a copy and send it to their landlord. Anytime you are dealing with the court, it is best to keep a record of every action you do surrounding the case.

To help alleviate the financial burden of rent, the federal government has issued millions of dollars to states cities, for rental assistance. Even though the money has been given to public administrators to give out, most Americans have not seen any of it.

The rental assistance many Americans are waiting for has been taxed, stolen, and even stuck. Then when landlords and tenants have disagreements within this process, we found that those tenants fell through the cracks of the safety net. Despite protections to stop evictions, tenants are still being evicted for reasons that are seemingly rooted in the unconscious biases that we all tend to have. On top of this, people of color are being evicted at a disproportionate rate throughout the Commonwealth, which is also consistent with what others are experiencing throughout the nation. We are all aware that systematically, minorities have harsher experiences than the media portray. This is no different. Today, we have the ability to change that narrative. The fight is no longer between tenants and landlords but is between the people and the broken system.

In order to help this process, there are organizations working directly with the community to assist with the housing crisis. This can foster as a form of partnership between state/city and organizations that have been doing the work since August 2020. If they can organize these entities to work together, learn from one another, and build, then it can help orchestrate a plan for implementation in the future. There is a second round of funds coming through legislation before most people have even gotten their first round of help.

The Catholic Action Center, Lexington Fair Housing Council, and community volunteers are working diligently to assist those that are facing evictions in Fayette County. We are informing the community of the resources available and helping them navigate through the process from beginning to end to avoid families from slipping through the cracks.

Eviction cases are being continued weeks out while the city/state organizes how the housing relief funds will be distributed. With each appearance, the chance that a tenant will be evicted increases due to not being able to make timely partial payments, lack of evidence of applying for government/community assistance, or because of technical difficulties with Zoom. There are days that Zoom court will not begin until 30 or more minutes after the time that is specified on the summons. Not everyone is technically advantaged. Blank screens just saying, “Judge will let you in soon,” are confusing and could cause people to leave the meeting. The highest reason for evictions in Fayette county is for nonappearance. If these people were aware of the housing assistance that is available prior to court they would be more likely to communicate with their landlords and show up for court, reducing the rates of evictions in this county.

What we have learned is that evictions go uncounted every day. No one is keeping a record of which counties have higher or lower rates of evictions. Without this knowledge, it is easy for hundreds of people to lose their homes unnoticed by government officials that have the authority to positively impact these situations.

There is an opportunity on the table to not only tackle evictions, but also to unite the people to create and promote an equitable system that is fair for all. Anyone associated with helping the public, from customer service providers to judges, should be trained on how to correct their social biases in real life situations. Involvement and partnerships with health departments and large community hubs can be the starting point to advancing and improving the system. Communication is vital in this fight, but solidarity is even more important. These are the moments that are directly impacting the health of our community.

Dayzaughn Graves is a Lexington Fair Housing Intake Specialist and a Public Administration student at EKU. Ty’Shalia Woods is on the Catholic Action Center’s Eviction Prevention Team.