TITLE
Title
AUTHORIZATION TO EXPAND EVICTION MEDIATION SERVICES
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
Victor Isler, Assistant County Manager
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BACKGROUND
Background
Guilford County entered into a contract with the UNC-Greensboro Center for Housing and Community Studies (CHCS) in June 2021 to operate an Eviction Mediation and Tenant Support Program from July 2021 to September 2022. Funding for the program came from Federal Emergency Rental and Utilities Assistance 1 (ERA 1) administrative funds. CHCS also partners with Legal Aid of North Carolina to operate an eviction court clinic once a week in Greensboro that provides legal assistance to individuals and households in court for eviction cases.
County staff has worked with CHCS and Legal Aid of North Carolina on a proposal to expand the program to 1) increase the number of days that CHCS and Legal Aid of NC operate onsite in both the Greensboro and High Point Courthouses to a total of 4 days per week with 2 held in Greensboro and 2 in High Point, and 2) expand the scope of the program to add a Landlord Outreach Coordinator in the Eviction Mediation Program and three attorneys and one paralegal to provide the capacity for Legal Aid of NC to expand their days in the County’s courthouses.
Legal Aid of NC reviewed the impact of their existing one-day program on summary ejectment cases heard in Greensboro from October 5 to December 16, 2021 by comparing the outcomes of cases heard on Tuesdays, the day the clinic operated, to cases heard on the three days that they did not operate. The initial review showed that fewer cases heard on Tuesdays resulted evictions compared to the other court days and tenants were 12% more likely to remain in their homes. Legal Aid estimates that, if the 12% reduction is applied to the three additional days that this expansion will add, this program can prevent about 76 more families per month or 908 per year from being evicted.
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REQUESTED ACTION
Requested Action
Authorize staff to enter into an agreement with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for the purpose of eviction mediation in an amount not to exceed $98,864 beginning July 1, 2022 through September 30, 2022 using ARPA funding and authorize staff to take any and all such necessary actions including associated budget and grant ordinance amendments to execute the agreement.
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