Indiana reopens rental assistance portal for tenants with pending eviction cases
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The state reopened its online rental assistance portal but rolled out new emergency aid requirements that tenant advocates said would shrink the pool of eligible applicants.
IndianaHousingNow.org began accepting applications Tuesday morning for a $15 million emergency rental assistance program made possible by the Emergency Solutions Grants, a Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act program aimed at preventing homelessness during the pandemic.
Eligible tenants can receive up to six months of rental assistance to help cover past due and ongoing monthly rent payments.
In order to qualify, applicants must have received a nonpayment eviction notice or notice to vacate, and earn no more than the 50% of the local median income.
Requirements from the state’s previous rental assistance program also apply: applicants must show they experienced income loss due to the coronavirus pandemic, not be recipients of rental assistance from another source, secure landlord participation and live outside of Marion County.
“It actually creates sort of a perverse incentive,” tenant advocate Andrew Bradley said of the pending eviction requirement. “Landlords may be in a place where they feel like they need to file an eviction (case) in order to see their residents be able to get rental assistance.”
The new program would serve only a fraction of the existing need as a standalone effort, he said, and would be most effective if “stacked” with other programs targeting different needs.
“That way, if a resident doesn’t qualify for one program, there may be another fund that they could qualify for,” said Bradley, who serves as policy director for Prosperity Indiana.
The state’s first aid program for renters devastated by COVID-19 was funded by a total of $40 million in federal money. It closed in August with no formal waitlist, leaving thousands of households in danger of eviction with nowhere to turn.
The emergency rental assistance program “has no planned closure date at this time,” according to a spokesperson for the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHDCA).
Christina Everman, a delivery driver who rents a house in Frankfort, said she was excited the state had reopened its rental assistance portal but felt continuing to require landlord participation would create obstacles for some applicants.
She applied for rental assistance under the state’s earlier program and was told she was eligible; her landlord refused to participate and filed for nonpayment eviction. She is likely eligible for the new emergency aid program but isn’t confident her landlord would accept the assistance.
“It should be made very, very clear — and in writing — the reasoning why any assistance would not be accepted,” Everman said. “When you apply for credit, they have to tell you why if you’re denied. I feel like the same should apply to something as essential as housing, especially now.”
The mother of three also called on agencies providing rental aid to increase outreach efforts. She recalled meeting other struggling renters in eviction court who were unaware of assistance programs or legal protections, including the eviction moratorium issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
IHDCA representatives did not notify Everman about the new emergency aid program, despite processing her previous application and having access to public court records showing her landlord had filed for eviction.
Renters “may be evicted and they may end up out on the street before they learn that these (programs) were things that could have applied to them, unless we decide to take more proactive measures,” Bradley said.