Through a competitive bid process, the Wake County Department of Housing Affordability & Community Revitalization has selected Telamon Corporation to be the program administrator for the House Wake! Eviction Prevention Program.
The partnership with Telamon Corporation focuses specifically on eviction prevention, which is the first intervention in a three-step process focused on reducing evictions in Wake County by providing resources to tenants and landlords. It will pay 50% of back rent owed, as well as a portion of future rent for up to three months, in exchange for landlords not pursuing eviction.
“Families across Wake County are facing significant financial challenges as a result of the pandemic, and it’s critical that we help as many of them as possible avoid losing their homes,” said Wake County Commissioner Dr. James West. “Now that we’ve secured a partnership with Telamon Corporation, we can assure residents that the help they need is just weeks away.”
Telamon Corporation will start accepting applications for assistance from residents by the end of August. The company will also process the applications, coordinate in-take of perspective clients and facilitate payment to the landlords.
The Telamon Corporation is one of four organizations partnering with the county for Phase II of the House Wake! strategic plan. The others are:
- City of Raleigh;
- Legal Aid of North Carolina; and
- The Raleigh Wake Partnership to End and Prevent Homelessness.
Together, these organizations will implement programs that prevent the displacement of Wake County renter households that suffered a loss of income as a result of COVID-19. Up to $17 million dollars from CARES Act funding will be available to kickstart the program. The program is expected to serve up to 3,000 households in Wake County.
The House Wake! three-step intervention process consists of:
- Eviction Prevention, which aims to provide financial assistance to tenants and landlords to cover rent shortfalls resulting from a loss of income;
- Eviction Mediation Services, which provide pro-bono legal support through a partnership with Legal Aid of North Carolina for tenants who need legal counsel to negotiate filed evictions with landlords; and
- Relocation Assistance, which will assist with relocating residents whose housing could not be stabilized through interventions 1 or 2.
After initially gaging community partner interest through a request for Letters of Interest, the Housing Department is releasing a Request for Qualifications today for qualified community service agencies to partner with Wake County on intervention three. Selected agencies will receive funding to provide relocation assistance and financial support to households, which were not successfully stabilized by interventions one and two.
“Providing eviction prevention services and legal support are lifelines to renters fighting to stay in their homes,” said Wake County Housing Affordability and Community Revitalization Department Director Lorena McDowell. “Our hope is that through this robust program, we will drastically reduce the number of residents who become homeless due to the COVID-19 pandemic and help to support the struggling housing market in our community as well.”
About House Wake!
House Wake! is a strategic plan to minimize the effects of COVID-19 on homeless and precariously housed Wake County residents, while maximizing opportunities for positive long-term outcomes.
This plan uses and coordinates federal, state and local funding to address the COVID-19 crisis within our homeless and precariously housed populations and aims to move the maximum number of people possible to housing stability.
The program will begin taking applications for assistance in late August. More detailed information on the House Wake! Strategic Plan and the Eviction Prevention Program can be found here.
One Response
Just one question…is it possible that some landlords are experiencing economic hardship also? Remember, many landlords are just average people that bought a house or duplex, fixed it up, and rent it for some income. They have expenses, like mortgage payments on the rental property, taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, and more.
I guess it is OK to offer the landlord to accept 50%, but the landlord must be able to turn it down and proceed with eviction if that is what is necessary. I hope this program is not forced on landlords.