HOMES RI WELCOMES ADDITIONAL FUNDING
FOR EVICTION PREVENTION, MORE IS NEEDED
Homes RI is pleased to see the Governor allocating additional funding towards rental assistance for tenants and landlords. We thank the Raimondo Administration, United Way of Rhode Island, and legal service providers for their efforts in partnering on this program. Additional funds are necessary and welcome — yet research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston suggests one-third of Rhode Island renters and 13% of landlords are at risk of missing monthly payments due to the crisis, estimating more than $80 million in missed payments since April. With federal benefits such as pandemic unemployment set to expire this month, households will be further strained and evictions and homelessness are expected to increase in Rhode Island and across the country.
While combined funding of $13.5 million for Housing Help RI and Safe Harbor provide a foundation for assisting Rhode Island renters and landlords, Homes RI has been advocating for at least $100 million in funds for housing stabilization supports that would be deployed through flexible CARES Act funds — specifically, emergency rent and mortgage assistance coupled with court-based pre-filing eviction mediation that is mandatory or highly incentivizes landlords and tenants to participate. We have emphasized that program requirements must be flexible for applicants, easy to administer for providers and that program outreach be comprehensive and inclusive to reach all Rhode Islanders.
Rhode Island is still under a state of emergency for “declared dangers to health and life due to COVID-19.” A uniform eviction moratorium that protects all Rhode Islanders from eviction except in life-threatening cases would go a long way to mitigate further harm to people who have suffered economically as a result of circumstances beyond their control. Legislation has been proposed in Congress to extend and expand a national eviction moratorium, but efforts to move it forward have been stalled. In the absence of Congressional action, we amplify calls for Rhode Island’s Executive and Judicial branches to enact an emergency eviction moratorium that covers all renters for the duration of the pandemic.
These problems are not new. Every year, Rhode Island courts process more than 8,000 eviction cases, the highest eviction rate in New England. Before COVID, 35% of all Rhode Island households were cost-burdened. Our housing inventory is inadequate to meet the need. During this global pandemic, it has never been more clear that housing is health. In addition to immediate resolutions to redress emergency housing needs, it is imperative that state lawmakers pass a dedicated funding stream for housing and an affordable housing bond in the FY21 state budget.
Take action today to let your state legislators know that we must prioritize housing in our state budget. Click here.
