The Columbus Dispatch

Columbus: More rental assistance is coming

- Bill Bush

With an eviction moratorium expired in Franklin County and thousands of people at risk of being removed from their residences, the city of Columbus announced it was disbursing another installmen­t of federal rental assistance funds to dozens of social service agencies.

The $12.2 million allocation adds to about $26 million in federal COVID rental relief already funneled through the city, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said Tuesday during an announceme­nt at the IMPACT Community Action headquarte­rs on the South Side.

PRE-COVID, the city dispersed less than $700,000 a year for rental-assistance and housing-stability program, Ginther said.

The pandemic “has provided some of the most-inequitabl­e outcomes for both health safety and economic stability for families,” Ginther said.

The money will be released in grants, some specifically targeting the housing needs of victims of domestic abuse, immigrants, refugees, seniors, the homeless, pregnant women, the LGBTQ+ community, and black female-led households, Ginther said, “so that our residents can live in safe, stable housing through this pandemic and beyond.”

The Covid-related housing-assistance program in Franklin County has been unpreceden­ted to date — and yet continues to grow to meet the needs of low- and moderate-income households, said Robert “Bo” Chilton, chief executive officer of IMPACT.

Rental assistance allocation­s from the state, Franklin County and the city of Columbus alone total around $100 million locally, much of which is yet to be spent, he said. Where PRE-COVID the number of people getting rent assistance numbered in the hundreds in Columbus, since the start of the pandemic the number is nearing 15,000, Chilton said.

The current program can pay pastdue rent of up to 12 months, and future rent of up to three months, as long as landlords waive any unreasonab­le late and attorney fees, Chilton said.

“We’re having a meeting this afternoon where we’re going to get some more-detailed informatio­n,” said Sue Villilo, assistant vice president of community-based services for Lutheran Social Services, whose assistance program will target the 17% increase in domestic violence victims calling its hotline since COVID.

“But this is certainly geared toward people who are below the AMI (Area Median Income) — I think it’s 80% and below — and folks who have been impacted by COVID,” such as become ill, lost a job, had a family member they had to care for, Villilo said.

“I think it’s pretty broad. It’s just that they had some impact,” she said.

A family of four making $67,350 a year or less, or an individual making $47,000 or less can receive help. Those making more can get help from private donations, “but that pot is a little bit smaller,” Chilton said.

“We know that there is a critical amount of demand out there,” said Columbus City Council member Shayla Favor, who said the wide net being cast by using so many agencies to distribute funds is to ensure “a targeted approach” so that all parts of the community receive help.

Landlords are a critical piece of the strategy, officials said. Many landlords are initiating the paperwork in order to collect missed rent, Chilton said.

“That’s the message that we really want to encourage is that the landlords do not need to file an eviction,” Chilton said. “In fact, if they work with their tenant and work with us we can get that rent paid so that eviction never has to go on their record, we never had to clog up our court system.”

Eviction isn’t going to expedite payment, Chilton said.

“I think there are some law firms who this is their book of business. They make a lot of money off of eviction filings and things of that nature, so they may encourage their clients to say file the eviction because it will expedite the process for payment, but in fact it doesn’t,” Chilton said.

The local court system has the capacity to handle about 100 eviction cases a day, meaning a potentiall­y drawn-out process for most landlords, Favor said. While the number of evictions filings is up substantia­lly, the number of “set outs,” where renters belongings are literally set out on the curb, still remains low, Chilton said. wbush@gannett.com @Reporterbu­sh

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