Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Money
  • Election 2020
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Money
    Election 2020
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Renters facing eviction to get a reprieve from the state, and from the federal stimulus

  • Housing
  • by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas
  • December 21, 2020
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Yehyun Kim :: ctmirror.org

Alice Prael, of New Haven, left, and Adam, who didn’t want to give his last name, stand with signs in front of Bradshaw’s house during an emergency hearing. “I’m just here to support as much as I can,” Prael said.

With state and federal restrictions on who can be evicted set to expire Dec. 31, a trio of state and federal developments will help keep many Connecticut renters in their homes through at least the end of January.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday he plans to extend the state’s eviction moratorium until Feb. 9. Congressional leaders announced Sunday evening they reached a deal on an economic stimulus package that housing advocates estimate will send an estimated $237.3 million to help Connecticut residents pay rent. The deal also extends the federal order to halt some evictions through January.

As the economic slowdown brought on by COVID-19 drags into a tenth month, housing advocates celebrated the news.

“Many tenants will be relieved and happy to know that in the midst of celebrating the holidays, they will not have to worry about packing to leave their homes. With the possibility of another spike after the Christmas holidays, we do not want to cause a further increase in infection rates and possibly deaths by moving people out of their homes,” said Erin Kemple, the executive director of the Connecticut Fair Housing Center.

Despite the federal and state eviction moratoriums, the state’s eviction levels have already returned to about one-third what they were before the pandemic. Last week, landlords filed 99 eviction complaints and judges approved 59 orders that allow a state marshal to remove a tenant and their belongings. These are the result of various exceptions the governor has shielded from the moratorium, including tenants being 6 months behind on rent or when the landlord intends to occupy the residence.

Lamont’s office intends to issue the executive order soon, and a spokesman said he does not expect it to add any additional exceptions for landlords to evict tenants.

Lamont said last week he was extending the eviction protections until Feb. 9, which is when his executive authority, provided under the COVID-19 emergency, to override state laws ends. He also pointed out that the legislature, which is set to convene for its annual session Jan. 6, will have the opportunity to decide the next steps.

“That non-eviction [order] gives us more time — say another five, six weeks at a minimum — unless the legislature would like to extend it to allow landlords and tenants to negotiate a way that people get to stay in their homes,” Lamont said.

A federal order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to halt some evictions went into effect in September, but it is unclear what impact the order has had in Connecticut. The governor left it to the courts to determine if the order applies, but as of last week, just 24 tenants in the state had submitted the CDC declaration to try to stop their eviction.

With the federal money it received early in the pandemic, the state set up a rental assistance program to give up to $4,000 each to roughly 11,500 families. Overwhelmed with 15,000 people requesting aid and only $40 million to hand out, the state stopped accepting new applications for that program Dec. 3. The financial advisory firm Stout Risius Ross estimates it would cost an additional $149 million to $274 million to shield as many as 161,000 households in Connecticut that still face eviction in January.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition has more details on the rental assistance here.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacqueline Rabe Thomas is CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter and an original member of the CT Mirror staff. She has won first-place awards for investigative reporting from state, New England, and national organizations. Before joining CT Mirror in late 2009, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. She has also worked for Congressional Quarterly and the Toledo Free Press. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
An eviction tsunami is on the horizon, and with it comes more COVID cases
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

The exemptions to the moratorium add up to the state’s eviction machine churning at about one-third the pre-pandemic rate.

Does ‘snob zoning’ lead to segregated suburbs in CT?
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

What's happening in this liberal suburb is a reflection of land-use decisions playing out in wealthy suburbs across the state.

HUD ‘perpetuating segregation,’ Hartford families claim in lawsuit
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

The policies that keep poor residents in impoverished areas are the subject of a lawsuit filed by 10 local families.

In recovering urban areas, homeownership makes all the difference
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

Five years ago, the neighborhood was largely blighted. Now, a playground sits on a cleaned-up lot.

CT’s balkanized housing laws are the subject of a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

A federal lawsuit claims a new rule will make it harder to challenge unfair housing practices in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Evidence not clear that Trump incited Capitol destruction
by Alan Calandro

Defending President Donald Trump is not popular and I have no interest in writing this other than adherence to truth. Recognizing the truth (if we can find it, which is not always possible of course) should make us be able to come together around that and move on with a common understanding.

Opinion Securing our nuclear legacy: An open letter to President-elect Joe Biden
by Erik Assadourian

Dear President-elect Biden: As you noted in a tweet shortly after protestors stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, “Today is a reminder, a painful one, that democracy is fragile.” Indeed it is. And so are nation-states.

Opinion Last votes of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others
by Gary A. Franks

Finally, the election season is over. The historic elections we saw in this cycle were intriguing. The runoff elections for the U.S. Senate in Georgia put a cap on the campaign season. For many people this could be described as a COVID-19 election. I would argue that this was an election influenced by a pandemic but determined by the killing of unarmed Black people with no adequate justice for the Black community.

Opinion Not just environmental problem; Killingly plant is a great target
by Joel Gordes

In 1990, I was one of five legislators to introduce the first climate change legislation that became PA 90-219, An Act Considering Climate Change, the most popular bill of that session. Back then I considered climate change a national security issue… and I still do.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO