End of eviction moratorium puts Horry renters at risk. Assistance requests piling up
Horry County’s rental market is increasingly seeing the impacts of the recently expired federal eviction moratorium as a local nonprofit works to disperse millions in available assistance.
A nationwide evictions moratorium tied to the coronavirus pandemic expired in late August after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt by President Joe Biden’s administration to keep extending it.
The result nationally and locally has been an influx of eviction filings, as landlords look to kick out tenants after months of not paying their rent.
The Horry County Sheriff’s Office has served eviction orders on 390 households total during July, August and September with those numbers expected to increase incrementally during the final few months of 2021, according to spokeswoman Brennan Cavanagh. Those served with eviction orders have 24 hours to vacate, she added.
That number could be a lot higher though if it weren’t for the availability of federal emergency rental assistance funds, which are being distributed in the county by Eastern Carolina Housing Organization.
The program invites Horry County renters who are dealing with financial challenged related to the pandemic to apply for utility and rental assistance, including up to 12 months of back rent and three months forward.
“This gives (struggling tenants) some breathing room,” said Julie Meaney, ECHO’s director of community data solutions.
Eligibility requirements include living in Horry County, the household suffering from a financial hardship directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the household earning 80% or less of the area’s median family income ($34,200 for a single renter, $39,100 for a couple, $44,000 for three people, etc.).
ECHO has received more than 1,600 applications, but lately it’s had to prioritize its review and approval process based on a few federally mandated risk criteria — primarily households that have already received court-ordered evictions, but also households earning 50% or less of the area median income and people who have been unemployed for at least 90 days, according to Meaney.
The organization currently averages about 29 days from when an application is processed to when a check gets mailed to a landlord, though Meaney noted that number is significantly less for applicants facing immediate eviction. ECHO’s payments through the program are averaging about $320,000 per week.
A zip code breakdown of applicants shows the highest volume coming from 29526, which encompasses Conway, with 303 applicants, while 29577 (Myrtle Beach) and 29545 (Green Sea) have seen the highest amount applications per capita with more than 1% of each area’s population seeking assistance, according to ECHO’s data.
Horry County received about $10.7 million through the U.S. Department of Treasury’s emergency rental assistance program, which it must exhaust by May 2022 with another $8 million expected that would need to be spent by September 2022, according to Joey Smoak, ECHO’s executive director.
While the assistance has been primarily lately used to stave off imminent evictions, Meaney said the organization expects to be able to serve all eligible applicants. They’ve also partnered with local electric companies to promote the availability of the assistance, as Meaney noted a single-day spike of 75 applicants Sept. 15 when Horry Electric emailed all its customers.
Statewide assistance program
Landlords have by and large welcomed the payments rather than move forward with the eviction process, Meaney said, though some were initially skeptical due to previous delays in receiving payments through the state’s SC Stay program, which Smoak referred to as “a nightmare.”
Earlier this year, ECHO was helping the S.C. Housing and Development Authority review applications for $25 million in rental assistance available through the CARES Act, but The Sun News previously reported lengthy delays in dispersing those funds resulted in some landlords threatening to withdraw their participation.
The authority is now overseeing the SC Stay Plus program, which offers $272 million in available rental assistance, and similar delays have been reported, with just $17. 2 million paid out through August, The State previously reported.
Horry is one of seven counties in South Carolina distributing its own funds instead of participating in SC Stay Plus, and Meaney said ECHO’s goal has been to increase ease of access, including allowing applicants to self verify certain qualifications instead of getting bogged down by documentation not required by the federal government.
S.C. Housing followed suit in mid-August, speeding up its review of applications and expediting payments since the eviction moratorium ended. The authority has distributed $32 million, and more than half of that has been expended since Aug. 27, according to spokesman Chris Winston.
Those funds have supported 6,500 households, while 9,000 applications are being reviewed and another 8,000 are in the pre-review process, Winston noted. Most of the money has been sent directly to landlords, but Winston said there are instances when they’ll send funds directly to tenants if landlords are unresponsive.
“Our hope is they’re using those funds to stay safely in the homes that they’re in,” he said, though he’s unaware of any follow-up requirement for how tenants ultimately use that money.
How to apply
Horry County renters needing rental and utility assistance can apply online at erap.echousing.org. Landlords can also apply on behalf of their tenants, but tenant participation will be required before funds are approved.
South Carolina Legal Services are also offering free legal assistance for residents facing eviction due to nonpayment during the coronavirus pandemic. They can be reached at 1-888-346-5592 or online at sclegal.org.
