Morgan County residents seek financial assistance after eviction ban is lifted

Sep. 12—Morgan County residents have turned to nonprofit organizations to help them pay past due rent since the Supreme Court ended the eviction moratorium Aug. 26, and several local landlords said they'll work with tenants on payment plans to avoid evicting them.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the federal eviction moratorium in September 2020, which prevented landlords from evicting tenants as a result of overdue rent fees. The moratorium had been reimposed by the CDC on Aug. 3.

"We are getting a ton of requests now," said Kathleen Ross, president and CEO of United Way in Morgan County. "Since the landlords can evict, they apparently are going to evict."

Ross said that she had a client last week that found a note on her door from her landlord that said if back rent was not paid in full within seven days, then eviction proceedings would start.

Some 3.5 million people in the U.S. as of Aug. 16 said they face eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey.

The Morgan County Sheriff's Office has assisted on six evictions since April, according to department spokesperson Mike Swafford.

"We've had two this month," he said. "That is about average."

Ross said she and her team have been able to raise $164,000 for a community crisis fund since the COVID-19 pandemic began last year.

"We've been able to raise that amount through donations from employees who work for Decatur companies like 3M, Daikin, Hyosung, and IVXP (Indorama)," said Ross. "Wells Fargo, Jack's Family Restaurants, Publix, and the Daniel and Arnold foundations wrote us grant checks to also contribute to that crisis fund."

Decatur Utilities donated $30,000 to the crisis fund as well.

Financial assistance

The United Way in Morgan County has partnered with Community Action Partnership in Decatur to assist residents who are dealing with financial difficulties.

"We do the funding, and they do the servicing," Ross said.

Community Action Partnership provides financial hardship assistance like utility and vehicle payments to families across Morgan County. When the pandemic began, they started providing rental assistance.

"We have provided rental assistance for 258 different families in Morgan County," said Candy Ayers, the partnership's director of home ownership.

Ayers said her organization received its first grant check from United Way on April 1, 2020.

Individuals in Morgan County who need rental assistance can apply online at CAPNA.org.

Ross said that they have currently given $70,000 out of that fund to Community Action Partnership so they can help individuals with rent, mortgage payments, and utility assistance.

The Alabama Housing Finance Authority in Montgomery paid $15.491 million in rental assistance to 2,308 applicants in the state from March 1 through Sept. 1. The agency is charged with distributing up to $263 million in federal funding and the slow pace of the state's program has been criticized by a key member of Congress.

"Alabama's distribution of federal rental assistance funds has been far too slow," Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., chair of the House's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, recently wrote to Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama Housing Finance Authority.

Not rushing to evict

Even though the eviction moratorium is over, local property managers don't appear eager to evict tenants with overdue payments.

"Since the moratorium has ended, we have had two tenants come forward this month who are concerned about eviction," said Susan Young, the property manager for Advantage Property Management.

Young oversees more than 200 properties, with 80 percent of them in Morgan County and a few in Limestone, Madison, and Colbert counties.

"We're not super quick to evict," said Young. "If a tenant comes in and works out a payment plan with us and keeps their end of the bargain, we'll work with them. We're not one of those landlords that runs to the courthouse on day 31 (of overdue rent)."

Holly Haley, property manager of Austin Villa and Regency West apartments in Decatur, said she has had to work with some tenants having trouble paying rent "but that's something we're willing to do. We're not just going to put an eviction notice on someone's door because they missed a month."

Haley has 112 tenants that are living in those two apartment complexes. She said some of her tenants are struggling because of being quarantined from their jobs as a result of COVID-19.

"I have had some people, last year and a few this year, who have had COVID," said Haley. "Last year, a lot of jobs were doing the COVID pay to help people quarantined, but a lot of jobs have stopped that this year."

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was signed into law last year and it required certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons concerning the virus.

Congress did not extend the act past Dec. 31, 2020, and employers can still continue to provide assistance if they choose to, but they are not required to do so.

Both Young and Haley said that she would be willing to recommend a tenant seek help from a nonprofit such as United Way if the back rent has reached a point where they can no longer help them.

"I would not be opposed to it, no," said Haley.

—wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.