ADDRESSING CLIENTS’ NEEDS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

July 23, 2020

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Tenant Rental Housing Assistance Program (TRHAP):  The Department of Housing’s rental assistance program began accepting applications on July 15. To apply for assistance, call 1-860-785-3111. For more information about the program, click here. To read the Center’s fact sheet about the program, click here.

Temporary Mortgage Assistance Program (T-MAP):  CHFA’s program to assist homeowners who are unable to pay their mortgage as the result of income loss due to COVID-19 began accepting applications on July 15. To apply for assistance, call 1-860-785-3111. For more information about the program, click here.

Eviction moratorium:  Executive Order 7DDD issued by Governor Lamont extended the eviction moratorium so that, except for serious nuisance cases or cases based on nonpayment of rent that was due prior to February 29, 2020, no notices to quit may be served till Saturday, August 22, 2020. Please read our FAQs about the moratorium here in English and in Spanish.

Federal eviction moratorium ends: In March, the federal government placed a moratorium on evictions from homes with federally backed mortgages. While eviction moratorium ends on July 24. landlords with federally backed mortgages can only start an eviction by serving a thirty-day notice to quit rather than a three-day notice. Further, the Connecticut moratorium described above applies to serving any notices to quit, and it will continue until August 22. This means that landlords in Connecticut cannot serve a Notice to Quit or a summary process complaint against anyone regardless of whether they have a federally backed mortgage unless they (1) fit the exceptions listed above under the Connecticut moratorium and (2) do not have a federally backed mortgage.

 

What happened since July 16, 2020:

 

  • TRHAP rolls out slowly: Tenants needing assistance and advocates helping them reported difficulties getting through to the Temporary Rental Housing Assistance Program (TRHAP) call center to put in an application for rental assistance during the first three days the program was in operation. Some tenants reported waiting on hold for as long as an hour and then having their calls disconnected. DOH has said all of the problems with long wait times have been cleared up.
  • Enhanced unemployment benefits end on July 27: Approximately 15% of Connecticut’s labor force, or between 240,000 and 320,000 people, are set to lose enhanced unemployment benefits on July 27. While Congress is debating extending the benefits, no legislation has passed of today. Many tenants and homeowners report having depleted savings and they now fear that the loss of the enhanced payments will lead to the loss of their homes.
  • Black renters and homeowners fear being unable to pay rent: This current estimate of households experiencing rental shortfall uses Census pulse survey data to predict that almost 50% African American renters in Connecticut have limited to no confidence in being able to pay next months rent. The tool also estimates that the rental shortfall in CT currently is just over $200,000,000, and that there is likely to be over 100,000 eviction filings in the next four months. The analysis is close to what the Center predicted in April of 2020. Similar findings are also reported
  • CARES Act payments went toward rent: Data collected by the National Multifamily Housing Councils shows that more 81% of renters who used CARES Act stimulus funds on spending (instead of paying down debt or applying toward savings) reported putting some of that money toward rent payments. Data collected by the S. Census Bureau’s Pulse Survey supports this claim.
  • Judicial Branch announces a delay in the use of executions and law days: The Judicial Branch announced that the use of executions in summary process cases and post-foreclosure ejectments has been delayed until September 1. This means that no one can be removed from their home until September 1 or later because they lost their eviction or foreclosure case in court. In addition, the Judicial Branch announced that law days for foreclosures have been extended until September 9. The law day is the last day the homeowner owns their home.
  • Court issues guide to participating in court hearings remotely: The Judicial Branch issued 32 pages of guidance on how to participate in court hearings remotely for attorneys and self-represented parties. To participate, parties must have access to the internet and the Microsoft Teams app. Advocates are concerned that many low-income people will have difficulty participating in court hearings in the future.
  • Foreclosure sales halted until October 3, 2020: The Judicial Branch has issued an order postponing all upcoming foreclosure sales to October 3 in order to prevent the potential gathering of individuals at the auction site.
  • Serious mortgage delinquencies spiking among FHA borrowers. While overall forbearance requests have gone down as a result of some people returning to work and as a result of three-month forbearance periods expiring (including borrowers who obtained a forbearance under the Department of Banking’s program), mortgage delinquency numbers continue to rise. Homeowners with FHA mortgages – who tend to have low wealth and are disproportionately Black and Latinx – are becoming “seriously delinquent” (90+ days behind) at particularly high rates.

 

What we are hearing from our clients:

  • Tenants attempting to apply for TRHAP assistance are experiencing long wait times in getting through to someone who can take their application. Long wait times deplete minutes on pay-as-you-use phones.
  • The TRHAP program does not have a TTY line, making it difficult for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to apply for benefits.
  • Tenants continue to seek assistance on how to pay their rent when they have lost their income due to COVID-19
  • Tenants are being threatened with termination of their lease in response to the extended eviction moratorium
  • Landlords are raising rents in response to housing shortage cause by inflow of new residents into Connecticut and increased demand for socially distant student housing
  • Landlords are harassing tenants for rent
  • Tenants are being denied housing based on how many children they have
  • Tenants using housing subsidies to pay their rent continue to face source of income discrimination

 

Outreach

  • Addressing Racialized Trauma and Actively Engaging in Anti-Racism: Center staff is collaborating with partners from CCEH to host this free workshop on Thursday, July 30, 2020 from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm. You can register for the webinar here.
  • Public Official Outreach: Center staff continue to participate in Facebook Live, community Zoom meetings, and tele-townhalls with legislative officials. If you would like our assistance reaching your constituency, please contact our outreach coordinator Shaznene Hussain via shussain@ctfairhousing.org

 

  • Staff continue to hold fair housing trainings and COVID-19 housing resource workshops via Zoom with social service agencies, direct service providers, and invested stakeholders. If your agency would find a short resource webinar or fair housing training helpful during this crisis please contact Shaznene Hussain, the Center’s Education and Outreach Coordinator, at Shussain@ctfairhousing.org

Call to Action:  Tenants in Connecticut are calling on Governor Lamont to stop all evictions indefinitely and cancel the obligation to pay rent. Connecticut leads the nation in income inequality, and this burden is disproportionately shouldered by Black and brown communities: nearly 60% of Black renters and 55% of Hispanic renters are cost-burdened compared to people who are white. For more information on tenants’ demands and to sign the petition, click here. To participate in the daily actions on Mondays and Wednesday, click here.

 

 

Resources for tenants and homeowners:

  • Click here to understand current tenant rent relief options in Spanish and English.
  • Click here to find more details in our tenant FAQ.
  • Click here to understand current rights for homeowners in Spanish and English.
  • Click here to understand how fair housing can protect you during the COVID-19 crisis. (Our guidance is now available in 11 languages.)
  • Need to have your subsidized rent recalculated due to income loss? The Rent Recalculation Request tool can be accessed here in Spanish and English.
  • To sign up for our weekly update fill out the form

 

More COVID-19 resources can be found on our website here.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR FAIR HOUSING RIGHTS IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, MANDARIN, VIETNAMESE, FARSI, RUSSIAN, ITALIAN, KREYOL, ARABIC, KHMER, AND TAGALOG, CLICK HERE.

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