Funding For Rent, Mortgage Relief; Eviction Protest In Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Virginia's rent and mortgage relief has provided an initial allocation for eligible residents of Alexandria, according to the city. The state program comes after the statewide moratorium on evictions expired after June 28 and tenants of the Southern Towers face hearings.

The $450,000 from the Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program supplements the $4 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funds allocated for the city's Emergency Rent Relief Assistance Program and $671,500 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds for affordable housing tenants.

State funding will provide one-time payments, and the option for renewal will be based on availability of funding, household's need for assistance, and eligibility. Eligible residents have monthly rent or mortgage at or below 150 percent Fair Market Rent as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Households gross household income must be at or below 80 percent of area median income.

Priority will go to households without other federal and state eviction or foreclosure protections, as well as those with an unlawful detainer action dated before June 8. Households with area median income at or below 50 percent will have priority until July 20, and households with income at or below 80 percent will be included afterward.

Outreach will be targeted to communities of color, as pre-pandemic research from the RVA Eviction Lab at Virginia Commonwealth University showed higher eviction rates among these communities.

Gov. Ralph Northam said the Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program would be in place when the moratorium expired but asked local courts to extend the moratorium based on need.

Since eviction cases resumed in Alexandria, residents of Alexandria's Southern Towers apartment building face a wave of eviction hearings in the third month of their rent strike. According to WAMU, many of the tenants work in food service, transportation, hospitality and airports, jobs that have been impacted by coronavirus-related shutdowns. Activists say early 150 eviction hearings were filed in the first half of July. Residents and activists plan to hold a protest against eviction hearings outside the Alexandria courthouse at 520 King Street at noon on Wednesday.

Activists previously held a protest outside the courthouse after the moratorium ended. As reported by ALX Now, participants called for the moratorium to be extended and for Northam to make $1 million available for rent relief.

For more information about the Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program, visit www.dhcd.virginia.gov/rmrp. Residents can take a self-assessment survey to determine eligibility and call 703-746-5700 to apply.