North Carolina residents have been protected from eviction through North Carolina’s eviction moratorium and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) nationwide moratorium, both extended through June 30 of this year to help protect renters at risk of eviction for nonpayment of rent during the pandemic. For thousands of residents in North Carolina, this has been a saving grace between a home and homelessness. For property owners and landlords, this has been a challenge. 
 

Pam Collier, legal processor for Townsend Real Estate rental division, said that the key to alleviating some of the larger problems is good communication. They have equipped their renters with information for the NC HOPE program, services through the county and other agency help as soon as it appears they are late on the first month’s rent. 
 

“We work for the homeowners and some of our homeowners have mortgages. We are doing all that we can do to help protect the homeowner as well as help the tenant by sending a bulk mail packet to anyone who is starting to get delinquent in rent with all of the information for the NC HOPE program, area churches, agencies such as Operation Blessing, Fayetteville Metro Housing Authority, the Salvation Army and other charities,” said Collier, “Most of the time, the tenants behind have not lost their jobs, but they have had their hours cut making it harder to make their rent. Their rent is due on the 1st of the month, they get a notice on the 5th and by the 10th or 11th day, we give them the resources they can hopefully use. We work hard to get them the information and stay in constant communication.” 
 

The NC HOPE program, administered by the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency in the state department of public safety, has helped promote housing stability during the pandemic and expects to open a second application period this month. Another program offering one-time grants to those who qualify is the Resident Relief Foundation Rental Assistance program. To qualify for this national program, the tenant must be at risk of eviction due to a no-fault situation and who can continue to pay future rent once the default is cured. Both programs allow for rental payments to be paid directly to the landlord or property manager pursuant to the existing rental agreement.  
 

The U.S. Treasury Department recently awarded more than $10 million to the City of Fayetteville and Cumberland County to implement a local emergency rental assistance program. One of the agencies assisting is Kingdom Community Development Corporation. 
 

Carl Manning, executive director of Kingdom Community Development Corporation, said his organization has worked through the city and county to help offer temporary rental and utility assistance to those in need. Due to those efforts, they have been able to help those renters who have needed rental assistance with some needing up to a year of back rent, but are now caught up. 
 

“We have received money from those tenants who have been behind. On average, they are very appreciative of the resources available, but they do have complete the work to follow through,” said Collier, “Our homeowners have mortgages that still need to be paid and we will need to move forward once the moratorium is lifted.” Collier also added that the majority of their tenants have not missed any of their rental payments. 
 

Not All Affected 
Our proximity to Fort Bragg and our large military population has been a protective agent and a common theme with quite a few area property managers of the larger apartment building complexes. 
 

Hannah Allen, the assistant manager at Windtree Apartments, said they had a few tenants out of the 254 units get behind at the beginning of the pandemic, but all their tenants have caught up to date. “The moratorium has not affected us too much at all,” said Allen. 
 

Schaelaur Kirkwood, a leasing agent at Enclave at Pamalee Square, which has 242 units, agreed that they have not had much of an issue with tenants not making rent payments. She attributes that to the military, who have remained employed throughout the pandemic period. 
 

Available Help
With that, help is available to assist tenants and provide landlords with the needed income. To learn more about the Fayetteville COVID-19 relief program, the NC HOPE program and other resources available in our area, a person can call 2-1-1 and ask about the COVID rental, mortgage or utility assistance or visit nc211.org. 
 

While the moratorium does protect individuals, who are unable to pay their full rent due to a substantial loss in income along with other qualifying factors, it does not cover evictions based on criminal activity while on premises, threatening the health or safety of other residents, damaging the property, violating building codes, health ordinances or other regulations relating to safety and violating any other contractual obligation, other than the timely payment of rent. 
 

When the first eviction moratorium ended in June 2020, landlords across the state began to file evictions, which the order had previously prevented. The National Low Income Housing Coalition said 1 in 4 adults in the state had missed their last rental payment and had little confidence of making another housing payment on time. 
 

Looking Ahead
North Carolina’s eviction moratorium is soon to expire on June 30, which coincides with federal moratorium. There have been indications that Governor Cooper plans to extend the eviction moratorium a fourth time, possibly to September of this year.