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u.s. news Dialuna 5 Juli 2021

Race is on to get rental assistance out to avert evictions

(AP) — More than $7,000 her hospital job during the Advocates also said states
behind on rent, Tyesha pandemic and now must made things worse — some
Young had hoped a pro- stay home to care for her waited months to set up pro-
gram in Louisiana would 7-month-old. grams and others created bu-
bail her out and allow her reaucratic hurdles.
family to avert eviction in Louisiana’s struggles are
the coming weeks. playing out across the coun- As a result, little money has
try as states rush to distribute gone out. According to data
But the 29-year-old mother nearly $47 billion allocated released Friday from the
of two from Jefferson Parish by Congress for emergency Treasury Department, only
is still waiting to hear wheth- rental assistance before a $1.5 billion was provided to
er any of the $308 million federal eviction moratorium about 350,000 households by
available from the state for ends July 31, putting millions May 31. That’s less than 4%
rental assistance and utility at risk of losing their homes. of the money allotted.
payments will give her a life-
line. She applied for money The historic amount — more Missouri Rep. Cori Bush, a
last year but never heard any- than the Department of Democrat who has herself
thing. She is waiting to hear Housing and Urban Devel- experienced eviction, said her ing and vacancy rates plum- states aren’t yet distributing
on her latest application. opment’s annual budget — office has received calls from meting. They also will be the March money.
was allocated in December families “who either don’t stuck with eviction and de-
The federal money was di- and March. know how to apply for the linquent back-rent records The Associated Press found
vided between a Louisiana funds or who say the applica- that make it almost impossi- states as varied as North Da-
statewide program and its Housing advocates blame tion is confusing and stress- ble to find new housing, leav- kota and California facing
largest parishes. Neither has the slow rollout partly on the ful.” ing many to turn to homeless difficulty getting assistance
gone well. The state has paid Treasury Department under shelters or find dwellings in out. Georgia distributed only
out $10.5 million out of $147 President Donald Trump Some 3.4 million people low-income neighborhoods $11 million of $552 mil-
million, while Jefferson Par- that they say was slow to ex- could face eviction in the next without good schools and lion, North Dakota provided
ish has only distributed $1.4 plain how the money could two months, according to the access to transportation and $3.4 million of $200 million,
million out of $12.9 mil- be spent. The criteria, while latest U.S. Census Bureau’s jobs. North Carolina awarded $73
lion. The parish replaced the clearer under the Biden ad- Household Pulse Survey — a million out of $546 million
company overseeing the pro- ministration, was still criti- number some advocates say The National Low Income and California $73 million
gram after only $236,000 was cized for a burdensome could be twice that. Housing Coalition found of $1.4 billion. New York
handed out by May. process that seemed more that of the 51 programs it has launched a $2 billion pro-
focused on preventing fraud Many tenants will be forced tracked so far, just 14% of gram last month but expects
“Where are we going to than helping tenants. out into a red-hot housing funds allocated in December it will be four to six weeks
go?” asked Young, who lost market where prices are ris- had been distributed. Most before it distributes anything.

Surfside pushes back on report on delayed building repairs

(AP) - A Surfside, Flori- lated to structural work and gency action by the Town of So far, 24 people have been ing was in danger of falling
da, official pushed back not permits to begin repairs Surfside.” confirmed dead and 121 are down. And a town build-
Sunday on the idea that the building needed to pass a still unaccounted for. ing official at the time was
the town was responsible 40-year recertification. Emails first obtained by reassuring, telling members
for slowing down a con- the Herald show the condo A spokesman for the condo soon after the report that the
do board’s plans to make “It would appear that the building manager grow- board declined to comment. condo building was in “very
needed structural repairs Champlain Towers South ing impatient at the lack of good shape.”
to a building that eventu- Condominium Association response from the town to Even without the town delay,
ally collapsed, killing doz- sought to address a number plans for a temporary parking it is not certain it would have Another possible factor add-
ens. of issues outside the scope of plan needed to move forward made any difference. Approv- ing to the delay was Morabito
any proposed 40-year re-cer- on repair of a concrete slab ing bids and permits for such Consultant’s estimated price
Following a Miami Herald tification work,” such as new under building’s pool and on work may have taken longer tag for the work — more
report that it took more than natural gas lines and added damaged columns in its ga- than a month. And while the than $9 million.
a month for the town to re- parking, Hyatt’s statement rage. structural problems that were
spond to plans submitted by said. “There was no indica- to be repaired have gotten in- Some owners protested,
the building’s board in May, tion during any communica- “As we are out to bid on our tense scrutiny, it has not been members of the board left,
town manager Andrew Hyatt tions between the Town and project (we) need to get to determined definitively that new ones came in, the repairs
released a statement saying the association by telephone answers to these questions,” they caused the collapse. were put off and by the time
the issues under discussion or electronic mail that this wrote building manager Scott a new board was ready to start
were preliminary plans unre- submission required emer- Stewart to a town building The emails between the the work this year, the price
official on June 21, more condo building and the town tag had ballooned to more
than a month after an initial came after years of delay over than $15 million, according
email request was sent. “This the structural repairs. to a board letter sent to own-
is holding us up and cost (sic) ers in April.
are going up and out (sic) 40 The problems with the build-
year is coming up fast.” ing were first highlighted by When the building fell on
an inspection report s ubmit- June 24, the board had taken
He added, “Can we get some ted by an engineering firm to out a loan, work on the roof
feed back please so we can the condo board in 2018. The had begun, requests for bids
keep moving forward please.” report urged work on a con- for structural repairs were
crete slab that been improp- put out, and some owners
The town responded with erly laid flat instead of sloped, had already paid in full their
requests for additional in- preventing water from drain- special assessment to pay for
formation on June 23, just ing off, causing “major struc- the work. Those who elected
14 hours before major sec- tural damage.” to pay in installments over
tions of the 12-story building many years instead faced a
pancaked on itself, burying The report submitted by deadline for their first pay-
sleeping residents in twisted Morabito Consultants did ments on July 1.
metal and broken concrete. not warn that the build-