Slow Rollout of Emergency Rental Assistance Funds Sparks Rally at DCA

On October 1, a tiny radical of activists held a rally extracurricular of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) bureau successful Druid Hills implicit the dilatory rollout of Emergency Rental Assistance funds. 

Several of the attendees of the protestation enactment with the Assist and Resist Campaign and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Community activistic Estevan Hernandez led the protest, intending to present a missive with their outlined requests. The missive asked that the DCA merchandise each of the funds successful their possession, the online exertion beryllium fixed, rapidly process pending applications, and that “burdensome” requirements connected the exertion beryllium eliminated.

The questions that the radical would similar to beryllium gone see landlord participation, lease verification and income verification. 

Hernandez claimed that the radical met extracurricular the DCA bureau to “expose a scandal”.

“The Department of Community Affairs has not fixed retired the wealth that was allocated, the astir $1 cardinal allocated by the national authorities to springiness to renters,” Hernandez said. “In the clip that they’ve had this astir $1 billion, they person fixed retired astir 2-3%.”

In a connection provided to The Atlanta Voice by Adrion Bell, the manager of selling and communications, The U.S. Treasury allocated Georgia with 2 funds- Emergency Rental Assistance 1 and Emergency Rental Assistance 2.  ERA 1 allocated $552 cardinal and ERA2 allocated $437 million.

Out of the combined $989 cardinal the authorities has received from the national government, the DCA has expended $33 million, oregon astir 3.34%. With that money, the DCA has fixed implicit 4,600 landlords and tenants aid.

The DCA’s connection explained that all verifications wrong the exertion are required by U.S. Treasury. 

“If an applicant is incapable to supply required documents, self-attestation documents for income, rent, and fiscal hardship tin beryllium submitted,” the DCA stated. “There is an anticipated 30-day exertion turnaround for completed submissions.”

According to the DCA’s website, the national funds are to beryllium utilized to wage disconnected past owed rent and inferior payments. DCA Deputy Commissioner for Housing, Tonya Curry, said successful a May 10 video that their extremity is “to get these funds retired crossed the authorities wrong the adjacent six to 7 months”.

The radical of participants chose to protestation past Friday greeting owed to the dilatory trickle of national funds to those successful request of rental assistance and the inability to scope the DCA done telephone calls and emails.

Protester Zak Norton’s main interest was helping the elderly, who are the radical who request rent and inferior assistance the astir successful his experience.

He besides voiced vexation implicit issues with the DCA’s online exertion for rental aid. 

“Josh and I went to spell spot a woman who was down connected her rent, implicit $3,500 down rent and fees…” Norton said. “This woman was going to get kicked retired past Thursday, the 29. We filled retired the exertion connected Monday. We couldn’t taxable it… this has happened implicit and implicit again.”

Dorothy “Dot” White is 1 of the radical being impacted connected the hold to person wealth from the DCA. She presently has an exertion that is being “held up”.

In 2015, White was stateless and done charitable projects, was capable to find unchangeable lodging and enactment herself. When the pandemic hit, it provided a caller acceptable of issues for her.

“[COVID-19] made it hard for a batch of us, a batch of handicapped people,” White said. “Busses being stopped, maine being car-less and not being capable to locomotion up hills, [made me] person to trust connected Uber. That took a batch of my wealth from my pocket.”

White wishes for the national assistance to beryllium handed retired successful a much timely mode to assistance residents similar herself and her 70-year-old parent who are having a hard clip making ends meet.

“I don’t privation to beryllium stateless again,” White said. “I sacrificed a full batch to get to wherever I am.” 

 “I similar my life,” she continued. “ I would emotion for it to beryllium better, but I don’t privation it to beryllium worse.”

In a Census Bureau study from September 1-13, 34.1% of adults are successful households not existent connected rent wherever either eviction oregon foreclosure is “very likely” oregon “somewhat likely”, compared to the nationalist mean of 32.4%.

Since the rent moratorium was ended by the Supreme Court successful August, renters are erstwhile again capable to beryllium evicted from their homes. In September, determination were 11,595 eviction filings successful metro Atlanta.

On August 25, the U.S. Treasury released 7 policies to assistance states expedite the doling retired of national funds. They besides announced that if the states can’t present assistance promptly, the wealth allocated tin beryllium redispersed.

“Beginning September 30, 2021, the ERA 1 statute requires Treasury to recapture excess funds that person not been obligated by a authorities oregon different grantee and reallocate those resources to high-performing jurisdictions that person obligated astatine slightest 65% of their archetypal allocation,” stated the Treasury.