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Lucas Metropolitan Housing to Extend Eviction Moratorium
Consistent with the agency’s
commitment to reevaluate the need for an extension on its
eviction moratorium 30 days prior to the expiration of the
current date, President and Chief Executive Officer Joaquin
Cintron Vega has authorized an extension that is applicable
locally until Friday, April 30, 2021.
LMH understands that housing insecurity was already at a
crisis level nationally and locally before COVID-19. Under
Joaquin Cintron’s leadership, LMH proactively issued its own
eviction moratorium that extended beyond federal mandates.
This moratorium applies to evictions for nonpayment of rent.
The agency has extended the moratorium several times already
and will continue to do so as necessary into 2021.
The temporary moratorium on
evictions for nonpayment of rent and fees and penalties
related to nonpayment of rent, applies to all tenants,
regardless if employment was affected by COVID-19. LMH
alerts its residents that any rent missed during the
moratorium will accumulate and still be due when the
eviction moratorium is lifted. For any unpaid rent during
the moratorium, the family must repay LMH or sign a
repayment agreement to pay any amount owed after the
moratorium has ended. LMH is working with our residents to
educate them about the process.
LMH understands the critical
importance of providing stable housing, now more than ever,
and is committed to working with its residents to do
everything it can to keep them in their homes.
“LMH understands that
eviction has a serious impact on community homelessness and
housing instability. As an anti-poverty organization, LMH
has many safeguards in place to ensure that the individuals
and families it serves remain housed,” said Cintron Vega.
During the pandemic, LMH
continued providing housing, services, and support programs
critical to its residents, serving with a sense of
compassion. Not a single resident has had an eviction filed
against them for nonpayment of rent since the pandemic has
started.
LMH has over 2600 units in
the Low-Income Public Housing Program and serves
approximately 17,500 residents across all its programs. LMH
understands the cost of homelessness to families, children
and to our community. It works hand in hand with community
partners, like the Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board,
to provide housing resources for special population groups,
for example, the chronically homeless. It will continue to
find other resources that can ensure that everyone in Lucas
County has a place to call home.
LMH will continue to
reevaluate the need for an extension to this policy 30 days
prior to the current expiration date.
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