Government & Housing Legalities
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE By Charles Tassell, Director of Governmental Affairs
RENT AND EVICTIONS IN THE ERA OF COVID
Charles Tassell
It seems the majority of meetings, up- dates and news are focused on this joint issue. The lack of funds to pay rent would typically initiate the unfortunate process of eviction. However, since September 4, 2020, nationally, and regionally several months earlier, courts have been closed for many reasons, but especially for non- payment. Under the CDC moratorium,
non-paying residents were to provide a declaration, AND make payments as best they could, AND diligently search out federal funds to cover their rent. CARES funds have been made available at the state, county, and local level in Ohio and at the state level in Kentucky, albeit with some disincentives for participation by housing providers. The
Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Apartment
Association (GCNKAA) has been very active in working groups and taskforces to expedite funds, share resource information and advocate for access to courts. For the past several months, the majority of those in need went to multiple organizations seeking help because the individuals didn’t know which group could help. Under CARES funds half a dozen organizations were receiving funds to assist those in need and all of them were overwhelmed. Nationally and locally, the United Way has stepped up to help ad- minister and direct those in need with directions to the appropriate resource, from small business needs to food, shelter, and rent as- sistance.
Presently the region is about to transition from CARES funds
to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program funding. These funds were approved in the December stimulus bill, with $25 billion set aside nationally. Ohio and Kentucky received substantial fund- ing, with several Ohio areas receiving direct funds - for example, Cincinnati received $9 million and Hamilton County received $16 million. An additional $21.5B was approved in the most recent $1.9T stimulus bill, and will likely result in an increase of 80% more funds for state and local rent assistance programs. Local updates on accessing the funds, both by renters and
housing providers will be coming online in April and GCNKAA will be hosting updates and sharing resource links via email, social media and websites. Please stay tuned. As a side note, a special thanks to NAA/NMHC for their ef- forts in pushing back on an effort by activists to make the CDC declaration universal, which would have meant every renter would be considered impacted and therefore unable to be evicted.
CDC MORATORIUM The never-ending edict from the CDC was extended through the end of June. Additionally, the new administration has tweaked the rules a bit, allowing for renters to use any document as a dec- laration, as long as it contains similarly required information. Additionally, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have stated that they will be investigating and pursuing multi-state housing provid- ers who might be violating the CDC order. The consequences of violating the CDC orders could range from up to a year in jail to $100K - $500K fines. However, a federal judge in the 5th district (eastern Texas) struck down the ruling in February. Since then, two Federal Judges in the 6th district have ruled similarly. The 6th District includes Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Both the Ohio and Tennessee cases should be strongly influential in our region but lo- cal courts are responding in various ways. GCNKAA is exploring options to clarify the rulings as precedent in the region.
SB 11 On a good note, the Criminal Damaging Clarification Bill in
Kentucky was passed by the House and Senate – only to be vetoed by the Governor…and then the House and Senate over-rode the Governor’s veto to pass SB 11. While supported by the Apartment Association of Kentucky and their lobbyist (which is definitely appreciated!), this effort was primarily a GCNKAA-motivated and pushed effort to address the lack of prosecutorial support for housing providers when a resident purposefully damages property. Damage beyond wear and tear and exceeding $500 can be consid- ered criminal and not just a civil issue. Special credit and recog- nition goes to CAP Real Estate’s Jesse Brewer who travelled to Frankfort many times and testified on this bill multiple times over the past two-and-half years.
This heading deals with housing & legal issues within the Governmental structure.
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