Lexington’s eviction program tightening up who can get payments. Here are the details

Soon only Fayette County renters that have eviction cases in court will be allowed to apply for rental assistance, a move designed to make the city’s remaining federal rental assistance money last until the summer.

The city has spent $41 million in federal money paying past-due rent to 6,000 households and 1,100 landlords since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic began.

Thanks to $15.8 million from the state, the city still has some money left.

But to make that money go further, the city plans to tighten up parts of that program so that money will go to people who are in immediate danger of being evicted.

Currently, renters can apply for funds as soon as they receive notice their rent is late, said Jonathan Wright, who helps oversee the city’s housing stabilization program.

The city will also no longer use the money to help pay past-due utilities. There are other programs that can help people with utility payments, said Charlie Lanter, commissioner of housing advocacy and social services. The Community Action Council, which administers the rental assistance program, also runs a program that can help people with past-due utilities. That program can be accessed at https://ckcac.org/services/home-energy-assistance/liheap/

Lexington, Louisville and the state received federal coronavirus relief money to help keep people housed during the pandemic. But that money is exhausted. The state quit taking applications for its rental assistance program last week.

Louisville still has $38 million in eviction prevention funding but has not yet set up a program to administer its remaining money. Newly-elected Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg has said he hopes to announce a plan in coming weeks. The state was administering Jefferson County’s program but stopped in late December.

“We didn’t want to just fall off a cliff,” Lanter said of why the city is clamping down on the program. The program spends $2 million a month. If the city didn’t make changes, the money will be exhausted by April.

“We have been worried for a long time about what will happen when this money runs out,” Lanter said. The program was set up to keep people housed during the height of the coronavirus pandemic when job losses were high and people were largely staying home. In addition to those with active eviction cases, those who are referred to the program from partner agencies, including domestic violence victims, will receive priority, Lanter said.

With the changes, the money will last into the summer or late fall, depending on need, Lanter said.

Housing advocates said there is a need to taper down the program so there won’t be a dramatic cut to services when the money runs out.

Art Crosby, the executive director of Lexington Fair Housing, a housing group that first sounded the alarm about a looming eviction crisis in 2020, said he hopes the city is creating a sustainable program that will help renters stay housed.

“I believe it’s important for the city to transition to an eviction prevention program that is sustainable,” Crosby said. “I think that probably does necessitate a decrease in spending and creating prioritizations. Hopefully the city can take the lessons learned from the past few years, and use that information to create more efficient models for keeping families housed and stable.”

Moving money to legal representation

In addition to clamping down on eligibility, the city is also going to use $1.25 million to set up and expand a pilot program that uses lawyers to represent tenants in eviction court. The vast majority of tenants do not have lawyers, but landlords typically are represented in court.

A pilot program started this fall in Fayette County District Court Judge Denotra Gunther’s court has proven successful, Wright said.

“They have been able to mediate and come to a solution without that tenant getting an eviction on their record,” Wright said.

Lanter and Wright hope that by using mediation rather than direct rental payments, more people can avoid eviction. Paying for mediation or lawyers is also more cost effective and sustainable than direct rental payments.

There may be grant money available to pay for lawyers for tenants once the federal money runs out, Lanter said.

By going to mediation, often a renter and a landlord can work out a solution without a renter getting an eviction on their credit history. Other cities, including Brooklyn, New York, have used lawyers in eviction court and saw a dramatic decline in the number of people evicted, Wright said.

Renters with a prior evictions struggle to find housing again. An eviction from public housing is an even worse mark on a renter’s credit report, Wright said. Those renters are often forced into unsafe housing.

Public housing tenants facing eviction will be given priority under the new rules, he said.

Other priorities

The city hopes to have a bid out later this month to hire an agency that can provide the legal services and mediation. In addition, the program will also be able to help people with application fees. Some apartments have application fees of $50 per adult in a household to cover for criminal background and credit checks. That can be pricey for people who are struggling to pay rent, Lanter said.

“We found that no (other agency) is covering or paying for those application fees,” Lanter said.

A group of tenants have pushed the city to hire more lawyers and mediators in eviction court as part of an omnibus legislative proposal it has dubbed a “Tenants Bill of Rights.”

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council is expected to hear the proposal Tuesday. Lanter said if the council approves the new guidelines, the public-facing application portal for rental assistance will be taken down later this week.

“Anyone who has an application pending will still be processed,” Lanter said.

The program has paid an average of $6,600 per client, according to city records.