Louisville residents seeking rent assistance as eviction moratorium nears its end

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- In a few days, the federal block on evictions is set to end, leaving millions scrambling to stay in their home.

"The demand is tremendous, and it's been nonstop since we started March of 2020," said Cassandra Miller, a manager at Neighborhood Place, which releases about 600 appointments for Louisville Metro's Eviction Prevention Program each month.

Without fail, they get filled.

"They are booked within like a three-day period," Miller said. "So we just released some last week, and we're already booked out until the end of August."

Miller said they still meet with people who just learned about the millions of dollars available for rent relief.

"We still have application packets that come in where people are needing 12 months worth of assistance," Miller said.

Miller said a lot of the people seeking the relief, which is paid directly to landlords, do have some form of income, whether it's through a job or unemployment payments. It's just not enough to cover their monthly expenses.

Her personal belief is what jobs are available to people right now don't pay enough.

"I mean, they may pay $10-12 an hour. That is not enough to pay rent, even if it's like $700," Miller said. "If you have dependent children, it's just not enough. Rent increases and everything else in the world is constantly rising, but wages are not."

Right now, she said there's relief funding available. It's just a matter of seeing and processing everyone that needs it.

"It does become frustrating, and it's disheartening," Miller said. "It's disheartening to me. It has an effect on the staff when they hear just, all day long, people not able to pay their bills, and they want to help. But we just try to do the best we can with the resources we have."

At this point, Miller said many landlords are already in their database, which has helped cut down the time it takes for funds to get sent.

"This type of assistance is immediate, and we need to be able to get benefits to providers as quick as we can," Miller said. "We've taken a lot of good steps in order for that to happen."

But she knows there will be some who miss out either because they don't know about the resource, funding will run out or something else.

"Those are the kinds of things that keep you up at night," Miller said.

Another looming thought is what will happen if the moratorium ends as its set to, while hundreds are seeking assistance?

"Who knows," Miller said. "The longer this goes, who knows what will happen to people."

One positive is Miller said many of the landlords they're in contact with are working with them to avoid eviction filings. She encourages any struggling tenants waiting on relief funds to be honest and talk with their landlords.

"Most landlords, they want to be paid, and they're willing to work with you," Miller said. "You can't just go hide and expect the problem to resolve itself. Landlords, when we call them on the phone, they'll say 'I haven't heard from this person in six months.' So that creates frustration on both ends."

Miller believes communication will go a long way to ease those frustrations.

"I know some landlords are tired. I know some landlords feel misused and taken advantage of," Miller said. "And I also know there are good people who want to pay their rent, and they just simply can't."

For more information on the Eviction Prevention Program, CLICK HERE.

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