CT rental assistance program a ‘nightmare’ for some landlords

Frustrations are growing among some Connecticut landlords who say they are waiting for months to get paid through the state’s rental assistance program aimed to help tenants struggling during the COVID pandemic. These frustrations mean that as landlords wait for payments, some are increasingly unwilling to participate in the UniteCT program, which advocates say negatively impacts tenants who are behind on rent. After hitting its peak in the fall, the program has decreased its number of staff and is slowing down again. Processing for fully completed applications may take up to 60 days, according to a notice on the UniteCT website earlier this month. “The biggest thing is not just the money, it’s the uncertainty of whether it’s going to get paid,” said Mark McWilliams, a full-time landlord who manages close to 25 properties in Colchester, East Haddam, Norwich, Plainfield and Thompson. Eviction filings have been on an upward trend, and “lapse of time” cases have also increased in recent months. The lapse of time cases, which occur when leases expire and landlords don’t renew, have more than doubled from 763 between August and December 2019 to 1,723 between August and December 2021, according to data from the Connecticut Fair Housing Center. Pamela Heller, a staff attorney at the center, said part of the reason for the increase may be because landlords want to avoid participating in UniteCT. Evictions require case numbers with UniteCT to be filed until next month when Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive order expires. State Department of Housing spokesperson Aaron Turner pointed to the program’s payment statistics — more than $200 million in payments have been made to more than 7,000 landlords to cover the rents of more than 30,000 households since March 2021 when the program launched. The program allows up to $15,000 in rental assistance per household. “Each case is different, and there are many variables that come into play, including whether the applications were in fact complete from both the tenant and the landlord,” Turner said. The federally funded program aimed to prevent a wave of evictions for people who were financially impacted by the pandemic. Connecticut received two rounds of money. In the first round of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, Connecticut received $235.9 million. The state’s total allocated for round two was $186.6 million. Some of that federal money went toward administrative costs. McWilliams said he’s had a handful of tenants apply for the program. In one case, a tenant applied who was seven months behind on rent. The case’s processing took months, and by the time it was paid, the tenant was 14 months behind on rent, he said. UniteCT pays up to a year of rent, so he wasn’t able to recoup the last two months, he said. Turner said in McWilliam’s case, four of his six applications were paid within 30 days of the state receiving all the necessary documentation. The other two need more information from the landlord, he said. “We have and continue to reach out to every tenant/landlord that has started an application, but has not completed that application every week, via email,” Turner said. “Applicants are provided information on how to log into the UniteCT system, and to update/complete their application.” McWilliams isn’t alone in his frustration. Oz Pariser, a landlord with 56 units, said he has pending applications from August and September that haven’t been paid. “It kind of in spirit, in theory, it’s a good idea, providing all this funding for people to pay their rent, but in reality, it’s not effective,” Pariser said. “It’s a nightmare.” He’s had to cut into his personal income to make ends meet while he awaits payments. So has McWilliams, he said. “I’ve lucked out in the sense that it hasn’t actually cut into being able to support the property, but there’s far less as far as basically the salary that I take from my business, so I’ve had to cut back personally,” Pariser said. “If it continues this way, it will cut into the bills and we will have to find different ways to support the property.” Turner also said there were landlords who were pleased with the program, including Jamie Perna, director of operations at the Housing Authority for the City of Stamford. Perna said the housing authority has had about 80 tenants apply for funding, and although the program was slow at the start, it’s since picked up. Some residents are still applying even though they are back to work because they have reduced hours or pay compared to before the pandemic, advocates said. Early on, the program saw delays because of technical problems as the state set up its web portal and designed a system to distribute the money. “We’ve just been grateful for the program, and I know the residents have been grateful,” Perna said. “They’re just appreciative of the help.” October estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicated that just over 45,000 Connecticut residents said they were not confident they were going to make next month’s rent. More than 69,000 said they were only slightly confident. Housing advocates said they’ve seen the effects on tenants whose landlords are unwilling to participate in the program. “Applications are taking a long time,” said Nancy Hronek, a staff attorney with Greater Hartford Legal Aid. “There are a tremendous number of people applying. I’m not as concerned about a delay if both sides are participating and working together, the delay is maybe a problem but it’s again, the bigger problem is a landlord refusing to participate.” Virginia Spell, interim executive director of the Urban League of Southern Connecticut, said she noticed the issue as well in recent weeks. “We’re really concerned about some of the landlords that are very impatient and want to be made whole, Spell said. “The tenants are frustrated, they’re in a place where they can’t make a payment,” she said. “It’s tough on both sides.”