Anxious tenants await assistance as evictions resume

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Six months after Congress approved spending tens of billions of dollars to bail out renters facing eviction, South Carolina was just reaching its first tenants. All nine of them.

Like most states, it had plenty of money to distribute — $272 million. But it had handed out just over $36,000 by June. The pace has since intensified, but South Carolina still has only distributed $15.5 million in rent and utility payments as of Aug. 20, or about 6% of its funds.

“People are strangling on the red tape,” said Sandy Gillis, executive director of the Hilton Head Deep Well Project, which stopped referring tenants to the program and started paying overdue rent through its own private funds instead.

The struggles in South Carolina are emblematic of a program launched at the beginning of the year with the promise of solving the pandemic eviction crisis, only to fall victim in many states to bureaucratic hurdles, political inertia and unclear guidance at the federal level.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/anxious-tenants-await-assistance-as-evictions-resume/ar-AANS0X0

[haele]

1. Looking at the California program, it's actually easier for small landlords

Than renters. Which makes sense, as landlords pay income tax on the rents, so the state has a vested interest in ensuring landlords get paid. They have to get the renter's signature so the renter knows the rent for the period is being paid via a grant should there be a later eviction "because I didn't get your rent payment".

The disconnect appears to occur when there's a property management company involved. I don't know if property management companies can get some relief for fees from the landlord.

Of course, that's how CA runs their program. YMMV.

Haele

[MichMan]

2. What happens if the renter doesn't sign ?

Landlord gets nothing?

[haele]

3. Well, if the renter doesn't want to sign, s/he owes back rent...

Unless one has a renter who already is getting COVID rental assistance money and is spending it on something else, there's no reason for the renter to not want to sign.
On edit, that is one of the requirements, along with ledger records of current rental payments/non-payment back to prior to COVID. There needs to be a record that there is a tenet living there not paying rent due to Covid during the time of assistance requested.

Haele

[MichMan]

4. That's assuming they even know they still owe back rent

or figure they won't ever have to pay it back, so why sign it to help the landlord get the $$ ? While it may be that they still owe the money, I don't realistically see how the landlords are going to be able to collect from many renters.

Look at the people that think if a car gets repo'd that since they took the car back, the bank is now even with them.