By: Jennifer Hernandez

With the surge of COVID, millions of Americans lost their jobs and suffered severe financial losses.^[1] Without a reliable source of income, many faced the threat of eviction and possible homelessness unless swift action was taken to assist these individuals and families.^[2]

As a response, the CDC issued a temporary national moratorium for evictions directly tied to unpaid rent.^[3] Several times throughout the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, both Congress and the CDC extended the moratorium before the Supreme Court struck it down this past August.^[4] Once the moratorium ended, state governments, with federal government assistance, sought to develop programs to provide renters with funds to pay off their past due rent.^[5] Virginia launched the Rent Relief Program (RRP) to aid the people in the Commonwealth with rent assistance.^[6] The program was designed to serve all localities in the Commonwealth. However, two localities, Chesterfield and Fairfax County, opted out of RRP assistance to launch their own locally administered rent assistance programs.^[7]

While Fairfax county’s program has not had issues, Chesterfield has had serious problems. Chesterfield County administered its Emergency Rent and Utility program through the local nonprofit Area Congregations Together in Service (ACTS).^[8] However, ACTS has been unable to keep up with demand, while RRP largely has kept up and is able to assist families in the rest of the Commonwealth.^[9] Unlike RRP, ACTS was founded well before the pandemic and has been providing housing assistance since 2003.^[10] In March of 2021, the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors allocated $10 million of federal coronavirus relief funds to ACTS to provide direct rent-relief in Chesterfield County for families struggling as a result of the pandemic.^[11] After the federal eviction moratorium was lifted, applications spiked and the resources provided to ACTS were not sufficient to keep up.^[12]

Today, Chesterfield County residents have no avenue for rent relief. ACTS suspended applications for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program after the number of applicants surpassed the available resources.^[13] ACTS has disabled their online portal and states clearly on their website that they are only processing applications submitted before December 14, 2021. They also direct residents of other localities to apply to RPP.^[14] Right now, a person who lives on Hull Street north of Chippenham Parkway can go through numerous legal aid and assistance programs to get rent relief through RRP. Someone who lives just south of the parkway has no avenue for the same assistance.

While there have not been large-scale shutdowns like we saw in 2020, the spike in coronavirus cases this winter has led to an increase in unemployment claims.^[15] There is also a significant number of people who are employed but don’t have adequate sick leave. For them, missing two weeks of work due to contracting COVID can result in not having enough money to cover rent and falling behind.

Even for those employed, the economic outlook is treacherous. The World Bank estimates economic growth will slow considerably in 2022 as the world still deals with the pandemic.^[16] As the coronavirus continues to mutate, it certainly seems probable the world will be dealing with this virus well into 2022. With this ominous economic picture in the background, Chesterfield residents will have to navigate economic hardship and possible homelessness without adequate assistance from their own local elected officials, unless federal relief arrives.

 

^[1] Jesse Bennett, Fewer Jobs Have Been Lost in the EU than in the U.S. During the COVID-19 Downturn, Pew Research Center (Apr. 15, 2021), https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/15/fewer-jobs-have-been-lost-in-the-eu-than-in-the-u-s-during-the-covid-19-downturn/.

^[2] Sam Gilman et al., With Federal Moratorium Expiring, 15 Million People at Risk of Eviction, Aspen Institute (July 2021), https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AI-017-FSP-Report_Eviction-Report_r4.pdf.

^[3] National Moratorium, National Low Income Housing Coalition, https://nlihc.org/coronavirus-and-housing-homelessness/national-eviction-moratorium (last visited Jan. 27, 2022).

^[4] Lawrence Hurley & Jan Wolfe, U.S. Supreme Court Ends CDC’s Pandemic Residential Eviction Moratorium, Reuters (Aug. 27, 2021, 6:57 AM), https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-ends-federal-residential-eviction-moratorium-2021-08-27/.

^[5] Leslie Cook, A State-by-State Guide to Emergency Rental Assistance, Money (Aug. 27, 2021, 9:56 AM), https://money.com/emergency-rental-assistance-state-by-state/.

^[6] Virginia Rent Relief Program, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, https://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/rmrp (last visited Jan. 27, 2022).

^[7] Mark Robinson, Facing Surge in Need, Chesterfield County to Seek More Federal Dollars for Rental Assistance, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Nov. 24, 2021), https://richmond.com/news/facing-surge-in-need-chesterfield-county-to-seek-more-federal-dollars-for-rental-assistance/article_a1392322-7507-5993-92dd-2936b61facbe.html.

^[8] Id.

^[9] Amelia Heymann, Rent Relief Applications in Chesterfield Closing, ABC News (Dec. 15, 2021, 05:20 PM) https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/chesterfield-county/rent-relief-applications-in-chesterfield-closing/.

^[10] The History of ACTS, ACTS RVA, https://actsrva.org/the-history-of-acts/ https://actsrva.org/the-history-of-acts (last visited Jan. 27, 2022).

^[11] Jim McConnell, County Partners with Nonprofit on Rent, Utility Assistance, Chesterfield Observer (March 10, 2021), https://www.chesterfieldobserver.com/articles/county-partners-with-nonprofit-on-rent-utility-assistance/?fbclid=IwAR2cSceq4mInG0_okfj8ed1SwKqZT8m5bm25jzF2If6sAh_rtzf_U2Lvxlc.

^[12] Robinson, supra note 7.

^[13] New Applications Suspended for Chesterfield Emergency Rental Assistance, NBC 12 Newsroom (Dec. 14, 2021), https://www.nbc12.com/2021/12/14/new-applications-suspended-chesterfield-emergency-rental-assistance/.

^[14] Chesterfield Emergency Rent and Utility Assistance-2 (CERA-2) Update, ACTS RVA, https://actsrva.org/chesterfield-emergency-rent-and-utility-assistance-2-cera-2-update/ (last visited Jan. 27, 2022).

^[15] Jonathan Ponciano, Omicron Job Loss? Unemployment Claims Unexpectedly Spike One Week After Steep Drop in Jobless Benefits Numbers, Forbes (Jan 13, 2022, 11:00 AM), https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2022/01/13/omicron-job-loss-unemployment-claims-unexpectedly-spike-one-week-after-steep-drop-in-jobless-benefits-numbers/?sh=7b115f65105a.

^[16] Alan Rappeport, The World Bank warns that the Pandemic Will Slow Economic Growth in 2022, N.Y. Times (Jan. 11, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/11/business/world-bank-2022-growth.html.