A day before she was due to be evicted in November from her Atlanta home, Shanelle King heard that she had been awarded about $15,000 in rental assistance. She could breathe again. But then the 43-year-old hairdresser got a letter last month from her landlord saying the company was canceling her lease in March —- seven months early — without any explanation.
Highlights
- $46.5 billion Emergency Rental Assistance Program has paid out tens of billions of dollars to help avert an eviction crisis.
- Some tenants, like Shanelle King, who received help are finding themselves threatened with eviction again.
- A survey last fall of nearly 120 legal aid attorneys and civil rights advocates found that 86% of respondents reported cases in which landlords either refused to take assistance or accepted the money and still moved to evict tenants.
- There have also been cases in Georgia and Texas where landlords who received assistance moved to end leases early, increased rents to unaffordable levels or found other reasons than nonpayment to evict someone, lawyers said.
- The National Apartment Association said the survey was not based on facts.