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Thousands In Mecklenburg County Facing Eviction Made A Priority As End To Moratorium Nears

WFAE file photo

DreamKey Partners, the Charlotte organization handing out state and federal funding to keep people in their homes, says it’s making the most vulnerable a top priority. Tenants are considered a priority if they have been served an eviction notice and are scheduled to appear in court in the next 90 days.

DreamKey Partners says there are currently 14,000 applications for rental relief funding, with 5,000 of them flagged as a priority.

DreamKey Partners is in charge of handing out federal and state dollars for Charlotte and Mecklenburg County that has been earmarked for rental relief for those impacted by COVID-19. The organization is hiring more staff, going out into neighborhoods to collect applications and working to put staff in courthouses to intervene in real time, said president Julie Porter.

Mecklenburg County currently has a little more than $5 million in federal relief dollars, Porter said, with more coming in August. Charlotte has $7.8 million. Porter says she’s expecting about $26 million in state relief, but she doesn’t know when or what the guidelines will be for distributing the funds.

Applications are being accepted through the RAMP CLT website, and payments will cover overdue rent as well as rent for the next three months.

“I think our average is around $8,000 that we’re paying out in rental assistance right now," Porter said. "It’s a significant amount of money and it’s a significant need in the community.”

Porter says landlords have mostly been cooperating.

“I would say the vast majority of landlords are looking for the same type of assistance that the tenant is because they have suffered financially, as well,” Porter said.

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Catherine Welch is Assistant News Director at WFAE. She has led newsrooms at KUNC in Greely, CO, Rhode Island Public Radio in Providence, RI and WHQR in Wilmington, NC.