Housing officials hope COVID relief funds enough to stop a housing crisis
Photos and text by David Pierini staff reporter
Carlton Ruiz found a great job and all that remained was to find a rental place roomy enough for his family of five.
In a tough Minneapolis rental market, he found a home in North Minneapolis. The $2,300 monthly rent, while high, came with furniture and all utilities. Once the probationary period as the manager of a plumbing company expired, the pay increase would make the cost manageable.
Carlton Ruiz (center) and Sharkiriah Smith (far right), with daughters (left to right), Sophia, 9, left, Celia, 5 and Canna, 7.
But COVID-19’s swift arrival last March shredded the security of the Ruiz family. The plumbing company folded. And with a history of bad asthma, Ruiz’s partner, Sharkiriah Smith, felt she had no choice but to quit her super market job. All this one week after Ruiz signed a lease.
“I’ve always been a positive person but it was really stressful having this looming extreme debt over our heads and not having any way to pay for it,” said Ruiz who is among the millions of renters who lost their income because of the pandemic and faced the panic of evictions.
A moratorium on evictions was a saving, though temporary, grace but would not address alone a foreclosure crisis that would impact millions of Americans. Last March, Congress passed the multi-billion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, of which Minnesota received $2.2 billion.
Hennepin County received $16 million for rental assistance and now awaits word on how much will be available from the CARES extension that passed in December.
North Minneapolis’s 55411 zip code, already considered an eviction hot zone, received the highest amount of rental assistance in the state with $2 million going to 600 households, according to Hennepin County statistics. In 55412, $1 million helped 275 households.
Carlton Ruiz with daughters Celia (left) and Canna.
Renters could apply directly or property owners could initiate the process on behalf of a tenant.
Hennepin County expects to double the number of households it will need to help in 2021 and hopes it can prevent a wave of foreclosures.
“The moratorium is still in place and renters are still protected,” said Julia Welle Ayres, the county’s manager of Housing Development and Finance. “We don’t know how that will look once the moratorium is lifted.”
Well Ayres said the county struggled at first to meet the unprecedented demand but said what authorities learned from 2020, she expects the county and supporting agencies will be able to help more people pay off past due rents.
“We know who the tenants are and we can help them because we know how to make the programs work better,” she said.
Ruiz said he was turned down twice for rental assistance, having applied through agencies that were serving needier clients. The amount in his unemployment check, while not enough to pay rent and other expenses for his family, still made him ineligible for help.
His application was passed on to Pillsbury United Communities, which came through for Ruiz in December to cover past due rent from March. Pillsbury United Communities is the parent organization of North News.
Ruiz will have to apply again for this year’s rent.
“Yeah, our rent was too high,” Ruiz said. “The computer couldn’t factor in the fact that (rent) included utilities.”
Ernest Clayton did not lose his job as a special education assistant for an alternative middle school, but he lost income when schools closed and the supplemental money he earned as a bus aid was cut when busses stopped running. Also, Clayton is not paid during the summer months.
The father of two who also cares for an ailing mother, Clayton fell behind in his apartment rent at Broadway Flats before his application to cover three months of back rent was approved through Hennepin County.
“I was only clocking in 29 hours (when remote learning began),” Clayton said. “After the rent, I was left with $200 or $300 for the rest of the month. That doesn’t cover diapers, food, a car note, insurance.
“I was able to get help, but this is a stressful moment for everyone, it’s a pride-taker to ask for help.”
Visit www.mnhousing.gov/sites/np/covid-19 to find out more information about COVID-19 related rent relief.