BALTIMORE — Calyx Wilson, a single mother of five and domestic violence survivor, packed up her home, booked a moving truck, and brought her belongings to a storage unit. Her family was about to be evicted.
“I was told to get medications out, anything my kids really needed, anything we really wanted because once the Sheriff and landlord shows up, they will not let us back in to retrieve anything,” said Wilson.
But hours before the eviction was scheduled, she received a call from the Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success (MOCFS) informing her that she would now be allowed to stay. Her request for rental assistance dating back to October 2021 had finally been processed.
Wilson, who worked at a jewelry store before the pandemic, fell behind on her rent. At the time, her landlord applied for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, and Wilson said she’d been approved, but the funds were never paid out. Then this past June, she received an eviction notice.
“It was embarrassing. It was stressful. I couldn't, I mentally was not getting through this. Everybody I reached out to for help just was not helping out,” said Wilson.
Wilson contacted WMAR-2 News and we checked with MOCFS.
Funds through the program she originally applied for were no longer available, but MOCFS identified a different funding source. Within a few days, they sent payment to the landlord.
“After everything that I've been through, crying and packing and moving, I'm moving back in. And it's something that we shouldn't have to go through at all, especially my kids,” Wilson said.
While Wilson qualified for the assistance sooner, administrative errors stalled the process.
“We had bought this property from another landlord, who, when we started the acquisition process, they had a rental license in place. And when we closed the transaction, that rental license had expired. And we're not perfect, we made an administrative error,” said Kris Garin, CEO of Riparian Management.
Riparian Management was in contact with the City in March to correct the issue and their rental license for the property was renewed in April.
“I think there was confusion in the city's records about whether we were the actual appropriate party to be paying the rental assistance to,” said Garin.
A spokeswoman said the funds were delayed for multiple reasons including missing signatures. The back and forth stretched several months, and in the meantime, the eviction moved forward.
While the change in ownership created unique challenges in this particular situation, the rental assistance process typically takes several months.
According to MOCFS, the average number of days from rental assistance submission to approval is 132 days. And that's sometimes after a tenant has received an eviction notice.
“So, the rental assistance infrastructure really starts with an eviction filing. If you can't produce an eviction filing as a resident or as an applicant, there's really, the wheels don't start turning. That's typically true whether it's a city program, or a nonprofit, or anybody. That's really the evidence of need,” Garin added.
During that time, government agencies and non-profits are trying to triage by focusing on the most urgent cases.
“The assistance machinery, and we've seen this consistently regardless of who is actually distributing it, really kicks into gear at the last minute. And some of that is because they're trying to manage scarce resources, not just funding, but staff time,” said Garin.
And funding sources aren't always consistent. New programs come with a new set of rules, which can mean further delays.
“We need to move away from a series of emergency short-term programs that don't speak with one another and come up with something that everybody involved can actually plan around and constructively participate in,” said Garin.
He added that there are no winners in an eviction – not the landlords who pay the overhead costs nor the tenants who need a stable housing situation.
“The mental health of my older two worrying if they had to change schools, lose their friends,” said Wilson. “It was just confusing. It was exhausting. Like I said, I still have to move and the money, the amount of money that it cost could have paid for a month or two worth of rent.”
A MOCFS spokeswoman invited WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii to meet with them to learn more about the rental assistance process and what people can expect when applying for services through their Community Action Partnership centers. We’re working on scheduling a date.
If you need rental assistance, the Mayor's Office of Children and Family Success asks that you visit one of their community based centers or call 410-396-5555 to be connected with additional resources. Click here for more information.