City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JANUARY 19, 2023
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
THROUGH: JAMES F. PARAJON, CITY MANAGER /s/
FROM: KATE GARVEY, DIRECTOR, DCHS
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of Plan for Utilization of $300,000 in Additional Rental Assistance Funding to Address Evictions.
BODY
ISSUE: Continued and urgent need to provide rental assistance for City households at-risk for eviction.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council approves funding from the General Fund Reserve in the amount of $300,000 to assist residents at risk of eviction through the remainder of
FY 2023 or until funds are exhausted.
BACKGROUND: On October 18, 2022, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development advised localities that state funding for rental assistance through the Virginia Rent Relief Program (RRP) was exhausted as of October 14, 2022. The termination of the RRP significantly impacted residents and landlords with applications in queue. In some cases, residents had been notified that their applications had been approved, but ultimately were denied. As the closure of the program occurred, the Department of Community and Human Services- Office of Community Service (OCS) experienced increased requests for rental assistance. As a result, by the end of November, OCS had exhausted state and local appropriated rental assistance resources.
Since then, eviction filings in Alexandria have continued. Landlords filed 339 Unlawful Detainer Summonses in November and 211 in December. There were 137 writs of eviction issued in November and 257 in December. Additional information is available on the Eviction Prevention Dashboard: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/katherine.key2321/viz/AlexandriaVAEvictionTrends/SummaryDashboard?publish=yes
For the past two months, OCS has referred requests for rental assistance to community partners that received ARP...
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