As national eviction ban expired, Wichita’s rental aid program picked up the pace
Wichita’s emergency rental assistance program paid out $3.1 million in aid in July alone, an increase in payments that could help some struggling or unemployed tenants stay in their homes after a federal eviction ban expired over the weekend.
The national eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expired on Saturday at the end of the month, officially ending the patchwork of bans on evictions during the coronavirus pandemic. It was the only remaining moratorium that covered Kansas renters after top state lawmakers allowed the statewide eviction and foreclosure ban to expire in late May.
The CDC’s ban had initially been set to expire at the end of June, but the Biden administration extended that deadline and signaled it would be the last postponement. The one-month delay was intended to allow state and local rental assistance programs more time to distribute federal aid and halt evictions.
“We keep encouraging both landlords and tenants, if there’s an application in, please hold on,” said Sally Stang, director of housing and community services for the city of Wichita. “We’re working on it, the state is working on it.”
If a landlord does evict a tenant on the waiting list, the city aid program won’t pay the landlord and the tenant would no longer be eligible.
The $3.1 million in emergency assistance approved in July is a boost from the pace of prior payments. The program launched in February and more than two months later, the city had approved just over $1 million of the federal funds for almost 9% of applicants.
It hit the $5 million mark in disbursed funds by the middle of July. As of Monday, the program had approved almost $6.5 million in rent and utility assistance payments.
There were still 985 renters on the waiting list for the Wichita Emergency Rental Assistance Program, dubbed WERAP. Those tenants could soon face eviction, Stang said.
If a renter’s landlord does evict them while they are on the waiting list, however, they could be eligible for the city’s new housing stability services program that aims to help city residents find a new place to live.
The tenant must remain on the waiting list for WERAP in order to receive those services. So far, the city is working with about 60 renters through that program.
State opens aid to Wichita residents
Last week, the state opened its applications for emergency rental assistance to Wichita residents as well. Previously, tenants in Wichita could only apply to WERAP, while renters elsewhere in the state could apply to the Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance program, or KERA.
Officials made the shift because the state maintains the bulk of federal funding for rental relief, but the majority of the need for that aid lays in Wichita, Stang said.
The state and the city will share data to ensure that renters don’t receive money from both programs. Tenants should apply to only one, Stang said.
In all, Wichita has deemed 1,278 households eligible for the city’s rent and utility aid. About 4,248 households have applied, when removing duplicate applications from the count.
The city withdrew more than 800 applications for various reasons — mainly if residents did not provide the required documentation when asked or did not respond to follow-up requests. More than 75 applicants voluntarily withdrew their applications, citing a new job or getting caught up on rent or utility payments.
While Stang said the one-month extension of the CDC’s eviction ban was not enough time to cover everyone, it did make a difference in getting more payments to more Wichita renters, she said. Stang would have liked to see an extended moratorium that covered tenants who had a valid application sent in for assistance, but who are still waiting for a decision.
Are evictions looming?
Eviction calls in Sedgwick County have started to pick up in the last week or so, said Steve Minson, a staff attorney in Wichita with Kansas Legal Services.
“We’re trying to work closely with the statewide Kansas Legal Services, working with the KERA, trying to facilitate with landlords,” Minson said. “If we can get them to hold off, rental assistance money is coming.”
Landlords want to be paid and tenants want to have a home, Minson said. The emergency aid programs are intended to cover both of those needs.
Minson expects to see more evictions in the coming month without a federal or state moratorium in place. However, he isn’t sure there will be a huge wave.
In the last year, many evictions continued in Kansas despite both the statewide and federal bans. The moratoriums halted evictions for non-payment of rent that were related to COVID-19. But landlords have been able to evict for other reasons, including through a notice to not renew a lease.
“It’s not too late to apply for KERA or WERAP,” Minson said. “Talk with your landlords, contact Kansas Legal Services. Understand that if you can’t get help, it’s a very quick process from the time you are sued to the time you can be put out.”
The CDC’s eviction moratorium hasn’t gone without criticism. A federal judge threw out the ban, but had placed a temporary hold on the ruling.
In June, a Johnson County judge began to evict tenants behind on rent in anticipation of the CDC’s declaration expiring. Johnson County Magistrate Judge Daniel Vokins said during a Zoom eviction hearing that he didn’t think the CDC moratorium was enforceable, the Associated Press reported.
A Sedgwick County judge told The Eagle at the time that the local courts recognized the federal moratorium as it applied to tenants.
“We don’t slow down because the eviction moratorium expired,” Stang said of Wichita’s rental aid program. “We keep chugging along.”
To learn more about the requirements for WERAP and to apply online, visit www.wichita.gov/WERAP. Anyone who can’t easily access the internet can receive help to apply at any of the city’s neighborhood resource centers, or at the Wichita Workforce Center.
