Working to Reduce Evictions
By Justin Lyons, CRC Member
The COVID-19 pandemic upended many aspects of our lives, including many people’s ability to pay their rent during the last year. In its continued pursuit to prevent evictions in the local area, the City of Charlotte is participating in a national peer-to-peer program called The Eviction Prevention Learning Lab (EPLL).
This initiative is affording local officials the opportunity to network with other city officials and their partners to share best practices and tools to limit evictions. The City of Charlotte is one of 30 cities across 22 states that was accepted into the program. This sharing of resources, technical knowledge and partnerships offered through the EPLL is critical in 2021, with eviction a continued concern for local residents. Late last year, the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute estimated that more than 10,000 local households were at greatest risk of eviction.
“One of the important things we have learned is that Charlotte-Mecklenburg is not alone as we face unprecedented numbers of eviction filings,” reflected Mary Williams, Dispute Settlement Program Manager for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations. “Cities throughout the United States are creating, updating and revising their assistance programs to help both housing providers and tenants survive this difficult time.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Dispute Settlement and Fair Housing Assistance programs exist to ensure our community is free from housing discrimination and hostility. Through these programs, the City offers mediation to help landlords and tenants find a resolution when conflict arises. During the pandemic, both programs have seen an increase in requests for landlord-tenant mediation and fair housing complaints compared to previous years.
Despite an eviction moratorium and tens of millions of dollars in relief, local residents continue to face the difficult prospect of eviction. For many cities across the U.S., a lack of eviction data across the country is inconsistent, making it difficult to address the issue strategically. “Without knowing where evictions are occurring, who is most impacted by evictions, or if evictions are rising or falling, it is hard to target outreach to those most in need,” said Teresa Palacio, Fair Housing Manager for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations.
In North Carolina, the lack of consistency with legal guidance has led to municipalities handling situations differently. Additionally, the varying willingness of landlords to take on financial risk or accept the financial assistance offered to tenants has impacted outcomes. The cumulative and compounding impacts of these circumstances makes it difficult to quantify the true magnitude of the eviction situations here locally and across the county.
With these challenges front and center, the City is engaged in the EPLL program to help develop a broader ecosystem of productive relationships among tenants, landlords, courts and local stakeholders to help keep individuals and families in their places of residence where possible. City officials hope to build upon their current practices by taking their learnings from this experience to identify and integrate more interventions that will serve more residents effectively.
“COVID-19 has changed many things, but it hasn’t slowed the number of people moving to Charlotte or the construction of housing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg,” said Palacio. “If we want to be a city that continues to grow in a way that is fulfilling to both residents and investors, it is crucial that staff do everything we can to prevent evictions, and sometimes that means recognizing the benefit of learning from others.”
