The Eviction Prevention Initiative, a collaborative effort involving the City of Chattanooga, Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, Legal Aid of East Tennessee and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga Area, released its second quarterly report of 2022, detailing many of the initiative's achievements in the past few months.
EPI provides legal representation to households that are facing eviction proceedings and supports them with additional services to stabilize their financial situation long-term. The program is funded by a portion of the City of Chattanooga’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation, as well as additional funds from the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga and Footprint Foundation.
Officials said, "Between June 2020 and March 2022, the EPI has helped 212 households, representing 464 individuals, avoid eviction. This includes 252 children who may have lost their homes had it not been for EPI’s intervention.
"Notably, this population was economically vulnerable prior to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventy-three percent of clients had their income negatively impacted by COVID-19. Sixty-four percent of EPI clients were housing cost-burdened before their income loss, meaning that they were paying more than 30 percent of their annual household income on housing. Thirty-three percent of clients were severely housing cost-burdened before their income loss, spending 50 percent or more of their income on housing.
"EPI data suggests that these hardships were falling hardest on households of color: while 19 percent of Hamilton County’s population is black, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Census, black individuals account for 64 percent of EPI’s clients. Research from Oxfam and others make it clear that people of color, particularly women, have been over-represented in hourly wage positions for years, making them uniquely vulnerable to the pandemic’s economic shocks.
"Data from EPI also indicates a strong return on investment for access to legal counsel for tenants facing eviction. When an unrepresented Hamilton County tenant faces eviction and negotiates with their landlord or their landlord’s attorney in court, they receive a money judgment eviction against them 71 percent of the time. However, when a represented Hamilton County tenant faces eviction and their attorney negotiates with the opposing party, they receive a money judgment eviction against them only 12 percent of the time.
"Moreover, unrepresented tenants receive default judgments against them in 63 percent of cases, meaning they receive an automatic judgment against them in court for not being present.
"The program is a win for local landlords as well; through EPI’s efforts, $369,567 in rent relief funds from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency have been distributed directly to EPI households since March 2021."
“EPI plays a critical role in addressing our community’s homelessness issue and putting families on a path to housing security,” said Maeghan Jones, president & CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga. “This program works humanely with families facing eviction, honestly and fairly with landlords who are entitled to rent and collaboratively with numerous partners who are invested in its success.”
“Chattanooga has a dynamic and growing real estate market that raises questions of housing access and stability for many, many families,” says Alexa LeBoeuf of Cosette Consulting, EPI’s project manager. “The EPI program works alongside our legal system to create better outcomes for all. As we have seen from the most recent Point in Time Count from the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition the number of people experiencing homelessness in Hamilton County has increased by 177 percent since 2021. The time to act is now. More substantive policy changes that are needed at local, state and federal levels to keep families securely housed.”
Tenants or landlords requesting EPI’s assistance should visit Rent423.com.