pandemic

November 2020: Rental Assistance, CARES Act

This was originally published on November 30, 2020 in the OCDCA Newsletter.

Federal News:

Rental Assistance in the Headlines

Georgia District Judge Upholds CDC's Temporary Eviction Moratorium

From Enterprise Community Partners...On October 29, a federal judge rejected a motion for a preliminary injunction against the CDC's temporary eviction moratorium for qualifying renters, upholding the temporary moratorium put in place by the Trump administration. The injunction was filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance on behalf of a Virginia housing provider and the National Apartment Association. By rejecting the motion for a preliminary injunction, the court has upheld the CDC's nationwide freeze of most residential evictions for nonpayment of rent. As of now, the CDC's emergency health order will continue to protect qualifying renters from eviction for nonpayment of rent through December 31, 2020. Enterprise has joined partners in urging Congress and the Administration to provide emergency rental assistance in conjunction with eviction protections to avoid widespread homelessness and the loss of affordable homes.

Even with moratoriums and some financial relief, evictions remain a threat in Central Ohio

Even as an eviction moratorium promises to blunt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, hundreds of eviction filings are being filed in Franklin County each month.

Read the full story in Columbus Business Journal.

Poverty Projections Illustrate Need for Federal Relief Package

A report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), "Weakening Economy, Widespread Hardship Show Urgent Need for Further Relief," outlines the need for additional federal funding amid COVID-19. Many funding sources within the CARES Act have expired or run out of funding, and many of the lowest-income individuals were left out of the initial provisions. CBPP reports that despite recent modest economic growth, unemployment remains high and disproportionately affects low-wage workers and people of color. As a result, poverty is projected to increase from 10.5% in 2019 to 13.6% in late 2020. Read more.

Federal Reserve Issues Community Reinvestment Act ANPR

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors released an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) for the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Comments are due by February 16. Suzanne Killian from the Fed summarized the ANPR at the NACEDA Summit in October. President-elect Biden made CRA reform a notable piece of his policy platform during the campaign. However, hurdles remain for him to implement his agenda as it relates to CRA, including an uncertain partisan makeup in the Senate, and how (or if) he can replace Brian Brooks, Acting Comptroller of the Currency. The OCC finalized its rule in May. Advocates have called on President-elect Biden to scrap the OCC's rule and proceed with a new CRA rule under the Federal Reserve's leadership.

State News

Ohio CARES Act Funding for Families and Small Businesses

Low-income families and small businesses hit hard financially by the coronavirus are getting $429.5 million in federal relief.

The relief package includes $50 million for low-income families to pay their rent, mortgage, and sewer and water bills. Those funds are being distributed to Community Action Agencies using the Community Services Block Grant formula. Households with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level will be eligible. Households can apply for aid through their local Community Action Agency starting November 2nd.

The Ohio Development Services Agency just recently made an additional $55.8 million in rental assistance available through the state's CDBG II and III allocations. This new rental assistance funding will also be distributed through community action agencies.

Another $125 million will be available for small business relief grants of $10,000, with an additional $37.5 million to help bars and restaurants with $2,500 grants, and $20 million to support arts and cultural organizations. Learn more about small business relief here. The application for small business relief opened November 2.

Loophole Threat to Payday Lending Reform

During this lame duck legislative session, an amendment was introduced in the Senate to House Bill 38 that could have created a loophole sending payday lenders out of the Ohio Fairness in Lending Act statute (HB 123, 2018) and into the Consumer Installment Lending Act (CILA) statute allowing for unlimited fees. OCDCA worked with our partners and the installment lenders to revise the vague amendment that would close the loophole. As of this writing, we're hopeful that the unintentional threat will be eliminated. Read Nate Coffman's testimony. Payday lending reform is working with affordable loans widely available, costing approximately four times less than before, and it has effectively stopped the debt trap. Consumers are saving more than $75 million dollars a year and benefit from widespread access to affordable credit.

Bill Would Make it Harder and More Dangerous for Ohioans to Organize

Introduced in the House Criminal Justice committee on November 19th, HB 784 would make it harder for Ohioans to organize. The bill seeks to amend several sections of the Ohio Revised Code to increase penalties for certain assault, vandalism, and riot offenses; allow peace officers to bring civil suits against persons participating in a riot and organizers regardless of participation in illegal acts; authorize individuals to use force, including deadly force against rioters to escape; and to prohibit bias motivated intimidation of first responders. The bill seeks to make protest organizers and community activists legally responsible for any and all actions of protest attendees or individuals in the vicinity of a gathering. It also encourages deadly force be used by civilians on other civilians in order to "escape riots." There is possibility that this bill could encourage vigilantes to seek out protests in order to incite violence and use deadly force to leave the scene.

Aug 2020: State Approves Millions More In Local Government Relief, Safety Net Not Priority

This was originally published on September 2, 2020 in the OCDCA Newsletter.

Federal News

Take Action Now: Call For Emergency Rental Assistance

Congress is back to work to negotiate the next pandemic relief bill. With mass unemployment and over 500,000 Ohio tenants wondering how they'll pay next month's rent, emergency rental assistance must be part of the solution!

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has introduced legislation (S. 3685, H.R. 6820) to provide a $100 billion time-limited emergency rental assistance program. The U.S. House has already passed similar legislation, but so far Senate leaders have been reluctant to act. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) could help break the partisan divide.

Please take a couple of minutes to ask Sen. Portman and your U.S. House member to support emergency rental assistance for unemployed workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Sen. Portman, who introduced the Eviction Crisis Act in December, understands the damage eviction causes to people, but he has not yet publicly advocated for emergency rental assistance to help the millions of unemployed Americans facing eviction during the public health crisis.

White House Issues Broad Moratorium on Evictions

From the National Low-income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)...Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control took the extraordinary and unprecedented action of issuing a national moratorium on most evictions for nonpayment of rent. The action is long overdue, badly needed and will provide essential protection to millions of renters. The very least the federal government ought to do during a global pandemic is assure each of us that we won't lose our homes in the midst of it: the administration's action would do just that and will provide relief from a growing threat of eviction for millions of anxious families. The moratorium takes effect on September 4.

While an eviction moratorium during the pandemic is essential, it is a half-measure that delays but does not prevent evictions. Congress and the White House must get back to work on negotiations to enact a COVID-19 relief bill with at least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance.

Together with a national eviction moratorium, this assistance would keep renters stably housed and small landlords able to pay their bills and maintain their properties during the pandemic.

Read NLIHC's statement on the eviction moratorium here.

State News

State Approves Millions More In Local Government Relief, Safety Net Not Priority

Another $175 million in federal coronavirus aid dollars are headed to Ohio's local governments after recent Controlling Board approval. The General Assembly already authorized $350 million of the $1.2 billion in federal aid dollars earmarked for local governments in separate legislation earlier this year.

The latest installment comes with the same restrictions on how the money can be spent - namely, direct costs associated with the pandemic. Local governments have until Oct. 15 to allocate it before the funds are returned to counties and until Dec. 28 before unspent funds are returned to the state.

Local governments have used previously distributed CARES Act funds to fund public health efforts, emergency rental assistance, provide support to small businesses and individuals facing hardship, and to fund other relief efforts. Members may consider contacting their local governments to explore partnership opportunities to aid your community needs.

Advocates led by the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO) have asked the DeWine administration to use $100 million of the aforementioned funds for emergency rental assistance to avoid a looming eviction crisis. The administration has stated that for now the coronavirus fight has to take priority over the safety net. Mitigating evictions not only alleviates family suffering but also is a logical strategy to control virus transmission by keeping people safely housed.

This Cleveland woman's eviction case highlights the growing struggle among Ohioans to pay rent during the pandemic. Matthew Desmond author of "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City" recently described the danger of not addressing evictions during the pandemic citing data from Hamilton County.

Congress is currently debating a relief bill that includes a U.S. House passed provision for $100 billion in emergency rental assistance. Please see the federal section for information to call Congress and Senator Portman to support this most critical resource.