[Excerpt]

“When they want to ask for help from a nonprofit, and the staff only speaks English, they feel intimidated and don’t want to go on,” said Adriana Godines, a volunteer for Dallas Area Interfaith, a community group made up of religious congregations, schools and other nonprofits. “Even if I tell them that there will be no problem and they won’t ask for your Social Security, they prefer not to [ask for help].”

And even people who go to the justice of the peace courts, where eviction cases are heard, face similar hurdles.

“A lot of JP courts won’t have bilingual speakers,” said Lizbeth Parra-Davila, a housing fellow at the University of Texas School of Law. “Throughout Texas, that has been the case where I’ll call JP courts and they’ll say, ‘Yeah, we don’t have any Spanish speakers. We don’t have any Spanish interpreters.’”

Godines has seen homes with 12 people living together as people who self-evict move in with loved ones.

“It’s people of all ages. Kids, adults, sometimes senior citizens,” she said.

Godines has worked with families searching for rental assistance, and she said that funds are running low among nonprofit organizations that are allowed to serve undocumented immigrants.

“We want to do more, but we don’t have more resources,” Godines said. “But the little that we have in this community, we give it.”

Auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas explained that many priests and churchgoers have pooled together resources to pay for rent and food for undocumented migrants. But he, too, worries how long such resources will last.

“I don’t think we know yet how serious this is or how long it will last. When the city assistance program opened, the help available was overwhelmed in the first couple of hours,” Kelly said. “It could be a very lengthy situation. There’s so much uncertainty.”

[Photo Credit: Pu Ying Huang, The Texas Tribune]

DAI Raises Alarm That Undocumented Immigrants are Self-Evicting, Texas Tribune [pdf]

[Excerpt]

After distributing $1.2 million in May, the City of Austin’s Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department announced Tuesday $17.75 million will be available to help renters in the second round of the Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants (RENT) Program.

...

The city will use a lottery system to pick funding recipients, so for people like Carlota Garcia with Central Texas Interfaith, the worry is about those who won’t get picked.

“No longer are we able to borrow from friends or borrow from family, savings accounts have been pillaged, there is no cushion left for people,” she said. “This moment has the potential to become disastrous.”

She said the state and the federal government should create a plan that gets those in need help beyond the next six months.

“In order for us to be able to prevent families from falling into starvation, or worse, we really need to have the federal government step up, as well as the statewide government..."

[Photo: Footage by KXAN]

$17 Million to be Available Soon to Help Austin Renters Affected by COVID-19, KXAN Austin [pdf]

Joint Statement on Emergency Rental Relief, Central Texas Interfaith & Austin Apartment Association

The council passed a resolution calling for Gov. Kevin Stitt to temporarily block residential evictions unless a landlord is responding to a tenant’s criminal behavior or dangerous activities.

“We’re really just asking the governor to pay attention to Oklahomans who are really struggling right now” as a result of the COVID-19 shutdown, said City Councilor Lori Decter Wright, one of the sponsors of the resolution.

The push for a statewide eviction moratorium started with a Tulsa religious coalition known as ACTION and a similar group called VOICE-OKC in Oklahoma City, where the City Council has said it will vote on a similar resolution.

In effect until July 25, a federal moratorium already applies to rental properties that have federally backed mortgages, but the Tulsa City Council wants the same protection for tenants in all rental properties.

Landlords would benefit, as well, said Councilor Kara Joy McKee, explaining that tenants would ultimately still have to pay their rents in full but would have more time to seek employment or government assistance.

“Our tenants and landlords need this support at this time,” McKee said.

[Photo credit: Joey Johnson, Tulsa World]

Tulsa City Council Asks Gov. Stitt To put Most Evictions In State On Hold, Tulsa World 

[Excerpt]

TMO is among the coalition of nonprofits that have approached the city and county to urge the equitable distribution of those funds.

“We asked City Council to commit $100 million of the $404 million in the Coronavirus Relief Fund to rental assistance. But the next day, they committed $15 million that was distributed online in a matter of minutes to about 12,000 families,” Higgs said.

“A survey shows of the 700,000 rental units in the area, up to 85,000 cannot pay rent at this time. A huge number of the people are service workers, men and women of color, hourly workers who lost their jobs with little if any savings. The need is so immense,” he said.

With any moratoriums on evictions ending, justices of the peace may resume processing eviction notices by mid-June and constables will start showing up at apartments, he said.

“It doesn’t make sense to evict someone who has paid regularly but is not able to currently pay during this crisis. Plus, when someone in uniform shows up to evict, it’s scary as heck, especially for those who may be undocumented,” Higgs said.

[Photo Credit: Courtesy of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church]

Facing Eviction, Single Mothers With Kids Hit Hardest By Need For Rental Assistance, Texas Catholic Herald [pdf]

On the heels of leveraging $10 Million in housing assistance from Travis County, Central Texas Interfaith leaders called on the City of Austin to provide at least $40 Milllion in rental assistance for economically distressed families in the COVID-19 crisis.   On Thursday, June 4, the Austin City Council unanimously responded.  

Central Texas Interfaith commends the Mayor, Austin City Council and City Manager for approving a COVID spending framework that includes nearly $24 million new dollars for the RENT Program plus $12 million new dollars for the RISE Program for direct income support.  

That, combined with other additional new sources, puts the City of Austin well over the $40 million dollars in new rental assistance that Central Texas Interfaith has called for. It also includes tens of millions more in financial support for those in need. We look forward to working with the City of Austin and other organizations on implementation of these programs and beginning to look at our longer term economic recovery and workforce strategies. 

Austin Council Approves Over $200M for COVID-19 Emergency Response, CBS Austin 

Group to Austin Leaders: Give $40 Million Cut From Coronavirus Funds to Renters, Austin American Statesman [pdf]

Advocates Call on Austin to Provide $40M for Renters, KXAN [video] [pdf]

Austin Allocating Far Less in Rental Assistance During COVID-19 Crisis Compared to Other Texas Cities, KVUE (Pre-conference) [video] [pdf]

Austin Nonprofit Seeks Assistance for Renters, KVUE [video] [pdf]

Organización Pide se Asignen Más Fondos de Alquiler Para Familias de Austin, Univsión [video] [pdf]

Organización Pide a Comisionados del Condado Travis que Aprueben Fondos de Asistencia para el Alquiler de las Familias Afectadas por el Coronavirus, Univisón [video][pdf]

Travis County Approves $10M for Direct Rental and Mortgage Assistance, Austin Monitor [pdf]

Housing Committee Talks Scaling Rental Assistance Program, Austin Monitor [pdf]

Headlines / Quote of the Week Austin Chronicle [pdf]

Austin Top News - May 14, 2020 KLBJ [pdf]

[Excerpts]

Longtime local resident Maria works in housekeeping and lives in a shared mobile home in El Jebel. She said she’s worried about paying her $300-a-month rent this summer....“My life is very simple,” Maria said. “I work, work, work, and now with the quarantine we can't even work, so financially, coronavirus has really affected me.” ....She recently received $950 in financial support from local nonprofit MANAUS. “Thank God right now I have enough to get by,” she said. “It just comes down to me having to really stretch that… this month I do have the money to pay the rent, but I don't have it for July or August."

....

On Thursday.... Mountain Voices Project ... propose[d] the “Landlord/Tenant Housing Recovery Plan” [with] over 160 local leaders in attendance, including representatives from nonprofits, schools and faith-based institutions as well as several Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield county commissioners.

The housing recovery plan involves creating a fund backed by local governments and private donors to support both landlords and tenants. The meeting last Thursday was the first step in getting local institutions, philanthropists and counties to consider coming together and working towards a common goal. Those in attendance were encouraged to take the proposal back to their respective organizations ahead of the next meeting, which is scheduled for later this month.

[Photo Credit: Eleanor Bennett, Aspen Public Radio]

Local Organizations Take Steps To Prevent A ‘Tsunami Of Evictions’ This Summer, Aspen Public Radio [pdf]

"Rev. David Lee Sincere Jr. with Fort Bend Transformation Church, Advocacy Now Institute and The Metropolitan Organization was one of several county residents and officials who spoke at Commissioners Court about the need for rental, mortgage and utility assistance. He said he has received a number of phone calls, emails and stories from residents who require help."

[Photo Credit: Screenshot via Fort Bend County]

City Mayors, Economic Development President, Fort Bend ISD Divided Over Division Of Federal COVID-19 Fund, Houston Chronicle [pdf]

Fort Bend County OKs Budget For Distributing $134M CARES Act Funds, Community Impact [pdf]

George Joins Others In Asking State To Extend Eviction Moratorium, Fort Bend Herald [pdf]

Fort Bend County Announces List Of CARES Act Funds Distribution Advisory Committee Members, Community Impact [pdf]

Fort Bend County To Host Workshop On Distributing $134M In CARES Act Funds, Community Impact [pdf]

Fort Bend County Launches $19.5M Rental Assistance Program June 1, Community Impact [pdf]

[Excerpt]

Sami Mericle, a representative of the Marin Organizing Committee, thanked the board for acting to further protect vulnerable renters during the health emergency but urged supervisors to “continue to explore ways to keep workers housed for the duration of the public health crisis and the economic recession that is already upon us.”

“An additional month of breathing room will still not be enough time for households who have lost several months of income,” Mericle said. “Even once the shelter-in-place is fully lifted, we expect the demand for jobs such as gardeners, house cleaners and restaurant workers will still be diminished, leaving many people unemployed.”

Marin Supervisors Extend Moratorium On Residential Evictions, Marin Independent Journal [pdf]

[Excerpt]

Seven [commissioners], plus the one Mayor Turner spoke to, said they plan to postpone eviction hearings until June. That’s great news to Mesias Pedroza, a leader with The Metropolitan Organization (TMO), who today was helping to pack meals for families with meals.

“Just right now we’re preparing for service giving food supplies to families and they come and say ‘hey we need help with rent. We can not pay for rent. We don’t have a job. What are we going to do? Where are we going to go?” Pedroza said.

As of Wednesday, there were 1,286 evictions pending in Harris County. Since March 18, 1,591 have been filed, according to data collected by January Advisers.

On Tuesday, TMO sent a letter to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo asking her to extend the moratorium on evictions which expired May 19. Judge Hidalgo has said that’s not in her power but she and county commissioners have allocated $30 million to help struggling families with relief.

“At TMO we believe they have the legal basis to do so because other counties have done so,” Pedroza countered. “There is ample discretion because the Texas Supreme Court they have said eviction orders may resume it doesn’t say that it shall resume.

[Photo Credit: KPRC Click 2 Houston]

Houston Mayor’s Tweet Sparks Optimism to Families Facing Evictions, Click 2 Houston [pdf]

Editorial: What Houston Must Do To Avoid Eviction Disaster, Houston Chronicle [pdf]

On the heels of leveraging $10 Million in housing assistance from Travis County one day prior, Central Texas Interfaith leaders called on the City of Austin to provide at least $40 Milllion in rental assistance for economically distressed families in the COVID-19 crisis.  

Leaders noted that while at present, the City of Austin invests $1.2 million for rental assistance, and $7 million overall toward housing assistance, over 50% of low income Austin residents are considered “cost-burdened” (ie. pay over 30% of their income toward housing costs) and 93% of Very Low Income Austin residents are “distressed renters”.

Parish leaders from Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic in East Austin argue that “even though evictions have been halted, rent and late fees are piling up, and many residents are receiving warnings from landlords to pay up. Austin did well by creating the RISE fund and some rental assistance programs, but we can, and must do more.” 

Group to Austin Leaders: Give $40 Million Cut From Coronavirus Funds to Renters, Austin American Statesman [pdf]

Advocates Call on Austin to Provide $40M for Renters, KXAN [video] [pdf]

Austin Allocating Far Less in Rental Assistance During COVID-19 Crisis Compared to Other Texas Cities, KVUE (Pre-conference) [video] [pdf]

Austin Nonprofit Seeks Assistance for Renters, KVUE [video] [pdf]

Organización Pide se Asignen Más Fondos de Alquiler Para Familias de Austin, Univisión [video] [pdf]

Organización Pide a Comisionados del Condado Travis que Aprueben Fondos de Asistencia para el Alquiler de las Familias Afectadas por el Coronavirus, Univisión [video] [pdf]

Travis County Approves $10M for Direct Rental and Mortgage Assistance, Austin Monitor [pdf]

Housing Committee Talks Scaling Rental Assistance Program, Austin Monitor [pdf]

Headlines / Quote of the Week Austin Chronicle [pdf]

Austin Top News - May 14, 2020 KLBJ [pdf]