Action Needed: Protect Renters Before It’s Too Late

Montgomery County is staring down an impending wave of potential evictions within the next month.

On July 25, evictions and foreclosure proceedings are set to resume. At the end of the month, the weekly $600 unemployment benefit supplement provided in the CARES Act will expire.

The County can take action now to make additional rental/mortgage assistance available to households, helping to stabilize thousands of families at risk of homelessness during a public health emergency.

We call on the County Executive and County Council to provide an additional $6 million in emergency rental/mortgage assistance before the end of the month.

Recently before the Maryland General Assembly, County Executive Elrich reported that approximately 20,000 households in the County are unable to pay their rent, which amounts to $30 – $40 million in delinquencies every month.

While the County has begun the process of reopening, many low-wage workers remain unemployed or underemployed and are not able to earn enough to pay their rent. Like many other aspects of the coronavirus pandemic and related economic crisis, people of color are expected to be hit hardest.

We applaud the County for making resources available to renters who have been most impacted by the pandemic, but those initial resources have been depleted. Governor Hogan’s announced $20 million fund for eviction prevention assistance is a statewide program, and not focused on Montgomery County. We don’t know when the funds would flow to local government or to people who are in desperate need now.

Please email the County Executive and County Council and give voice to the people who lack any constituency. Tell your officials to dedicate $6 million for rental assistance before it’s too late and people begin losing their homes.

A letter you can update and personalize to communicate with elected leaders is here.

Click here for a list of County Councilmember email addresses.