INDIANAPOLIS — Researchers said as many as 313,000 Indiana households are now at risk of eviction — a devastating side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic that has emerged as its own separate crisis.
For families facing that risk, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last month announced a nationwide moratorium on evictions. The CDC order temporarily halts residential evictions from Sept. 4 through Dec. 31, 2020, meaning landlords cannot evict a tenant for non-payment of rent if the tenant meets certain criteria under the order.
“The CDC eviction moratorium is really unprecedented,” said Chase Haller, staff attorney and director of housing and consumer justice at Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic in Indianapolis. Haller said the CDC's order can help millions of people, but only if they know how the program works.
To be covered under the CDC moratorium, a renter must have:
1. Attempted to obtain available government assistance available to cover rent
2. Earned no more than $99,000 in income for calendar year 2020 (not more than $198,000 if filing a joint tax return) or received a stimulus check under the CARES Act
3. Been unable to pay the full rent payment due to substantial loss of household income, a lay-off or out-of-pocket medical expenses
4. Made efforts to make timely payments that are as close to the full payment as circumstances will permit
5. Shown that eviction would likely render the individual homeless or require moving into close quarters in a new shared living setting
Renters who do qualify for the CDC moratorium under all of those situations can still face eviction if they do not take action required under the federal order.
”Even if you do qualify, you have to take some affirmative steps. You have to sign a declaration form the CDC has issued, and you have to provide a copy of it to your landlord in order to be entitled to the protection,” Haller explained. “I think that’s the biggest education key to this and what we want the public to be aware of.”
Haller's organization has partnered with the City of Indianapolis to create a new online tool to walk renters at risk of eviction through the CDC verification process. The new website launched Friday morning, and Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic said it’s meant to be a “one-stop shop” for renters who want to utilize the CDC eviction moratorium.
“We really wanted to build a tool that anyone in the state can go to to see if they qualify, electronically sign the declaration form and submit it to their landlord automatically without even needing a printer,” Haller told 13News. “And they can do it 24/7 at their convenience. They don’t have to wait for us to call them back, and I think that’s really important. Legal aid organizations have limited resources. We have only so many attorneys, so many support staff that can answer calls, and we’re available only certain hours of the day. This technology can really fill in the gaps so people can get an important service online whenever they need it.”
The City of Indianapolis is a big supporter of the new NCLC eviction moratorium tool. The Office of Public Health and Safety provided a $47,000 grant to help develop the website.
“The hope is we can get as many people who are eligible to stay housed at least through Jan. 1 as possible to take full advantage of that,” said Matt Giffin, the city’s interim director of health and safety. “This is a really big problem, and we are hoping the federal government will extend the moratorium and provide additional resources to help cities and states address the eviction crisis. It’s pretty clear the threat is not going away and the pandemic is not going anywhere.
Last week, the State of Indiana re-opened a rent assistance program to help families facing eviction. After not accepting applications for months, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority started to once again process emergency rental aid applications through Indiana’s rental assistance portal.
“It's great news. It's something we've been hoping would happen ever since we got word the portal would be closing the first time back in August,” said Andrew Bradley, policy director at Prosperity Indiana. He said the current crisis involving families who cannot afford their rent is one of the most significant issues now facing the state.
“This is an issue we expect to persist not just for the next couple of weeks or months, but well into next year,” said Bradley.
Social service agencies are having trouble keeping up with a surge of urgent requests from families receiving eviction notices – even during the CDC moratorium.
“We've seen over the past few weeks, each week the average number of eviction intakes almost triples,” explained Brandon Beeler, director of the Housing Law Center at Indiana Legal Services. “Eviction cases have dramatically increased throughout the state.”
The state's rental assistance program offers up to six months of rental costs for families that qualify, but it does have some new restrictions that mean fewer Hoosiers will get to use the program. There are now tighter income limits. And in order to get rental assistance, families must now provide evidence that they are actually being evicted.
“It could provide a perverse incentive,” said Bradley. “Even landlords who want to help may feel like they need to go ahead and file an eviction notice so the tenant can be eligible for funding. And can you even imagine being a tenant who now might have to ask for an eviction to be filed to get into the assistance program? The problem then is that eviction filing can stay on your record for a ling time and make it much harder to get approved for housing in the future.”
Beeler shares those concerns.
“The mere filing of an eviction can truly affect someone’s ability to get future housing, so I do have some concerns about that requirement,” he said.
The state’s rental assistance portal is funded by $15 million in CARES Act money and is available to residents across Indiana – except for those who live in Marion County. Marion County has its own separate rental assistance program.
Both programs are considered underfunded based on the large number of Indiana residents facing unemployment and experiencing financial hardship due to the lingering pandemic.
“We’re going to need a larger housing stability plan in order to cover that need fully,” Bradley said.