![]() ![]() The Treasury is in the process of reallocating money from states and localities that were slower to spend their allocations.įor now, that additional money isn’t coming to Connecticut, Turner said. Those estimates were included in a request for $243 million in additional funding the state sent in November to the U.S. ![]() “It sure feels like we have more cases, it sure feels like we have more people who are desperate, it sure feels like we have more people who are at the end of their rope,” Hronek said.Īnd the assistance program’s slow-down is occurring even as the state’s own estimates said the program could help 3,500 Connecticut households in December, January and February. 29, according to data from the Connecticut Fair Housing Center.įinal eviction orders are also up from lows earlier in the pandemic, but down from pre-pandemic levels, data shows.įilings are also below December 2019, when there were 1,498, but up significantly from the 395 evictions that were filed in July 2021. There were 1,148 evictions filed and 292 final eviction orders issued up to Dec. “We’re really concerned about some of the landlords that are very impatient and want to be made whole,” she said.Įviction filings and final orders, called executions, have been picking up in Connecticut since a federal moratorium on most evictions for nonpayment of rent ended in August. She added that the slow-downs are also affecting landlords, who are frustrated at having missed rental payments for months. “We have been bombarded with folks who are facing eviction, who are not able to get resolution, who are frustrated, who are angry, who are scared,” Spell said. And some are still paying off back rent from months ago, said Virginia Spell, interim executive director of the Urban League of Southern Connecticut. Need hasn’t slowed down in recent months - the latest spikes in COVID-19 have caused more to miss work because of illness and quarantines. “Currently, we have the necessary staffing in place to meet the administrative cost limitations of the program and to continue to meet the needs of our applicants,” Turner added.īut housing advocates say the UniteCT program’s slow-down is hurting tenants, some of whom they say are having evictions filed against them while they wait for their applications to be processed or for money to come through. The pandemic has also impacted “staff availability,” Turner said. Now, a notice on the UniteCT website says the process could take up to 60 days. As of Friday, there were 162 people working on UniteCT, “which is economically sustainable,” Turner said.Īt its height, the program was processing fully completed applications within 15 days, on average. Treasury,” Turner said.īetween contractors, consultants and department staff, there were 250 people working on the program at its height. “That level of staffing is not financially sustainable, within the program guidelines provided by U.S. ![]() The program had hired additional case review staff temporarily before the funding ran out, Department of Housing spokesman Aaron Turner said. The issue has been compounded by Connecticut’s rental assistance program again seeing delays in application processing, which advocates say is slowing down payments for renters in need. “We had an eviction crisis before COVID, and it certainly hasn’t made it any better.” ![]() “I think people generally are still suffering and poor people are still feeling the effects of COVID,” said Nancy Hronek, a staff attorney who works on eviction defense at Greater Hartford Legal Aid. ![]()
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