Sitting on his doorstep on a quiet street in Derby, John Mullin talked about his decision to finally buy a house.
“I wanted to make sure my godchildren had a good roof over their heads,” Mullin said.
His godchildren live with him on the second floor of the two-family property. In that property, he sees potential -- repairs, renovation, the future. But while being a property owner has had its perks, Mullin said, the last year and a half has been an uphill battle. His first-floor tenant hasn’t been able to pay rent due to the pandemic and owes him nearly $14,000.
He reached into a manila pocket folder where he keeps all his house records and pulled out a letter he received this year from his mortgage company. He said it shook him to his core.
“I didn’t eat or sleep for almost a month. I was sick to my stomach fearing I was going to lose the house and everything,” he said. It’s a foreclosure warning. Mullin owed more than $8,000 at that point.
With a monthly payment of almost $1,500, Mullin said his tenant’s rent of $1,100 was crucial. Without that income, every month has been unpredictable.
A COVID-19 landlord survey by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority found that thousands of small property owners like Mullin have been hit hard by the pandemic.
While government protections have shielded renters from evictions, landlords have remained on the hook for property repairs, taxes and mortgages.
In years past, Mullin could have taken his tenant to housing court for unpaid rent. But between federal and state eviction moratoriums and executive orders, Mullin has had few options.
Federal and state eviction bans were in effect together until June 30. They aimed to keep people housed as long as possible to avoid the transmission of COVID-19 in crowded places like shelters. The move was applauded by housing advocates, who said it stemmed the tide of evictions. And that it did. Since January of this year, almost 4,500 evictions have been filed in Connecticut, according to Princeton University’s Eviction Lab. That’s less than half of the average usually filed in other years without any protections.
While the federal ban issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention remains in effect, the state ban has expired. But Gov. Ned Lamont provided a layer of protection, signing an executive order that adds a couple of steps to the eviction process through Sept. 30. Among those steps is a requirement that landlords apply to the state’s rental assistance program, UniteCT. The program is funded by more than $400 million from the federal government.
Mullin submitted his application in May. But it’s been a waiting game, and he says he has yet to receive any aid.
This is not uncommon. The UniteCTdashboard shows more than 8,000 cases are pending and nearly 14,000 are incomplete.
“It’s only as fast as a file is complete, is really what it comes down to,” said UniteCT Director Dawn Parker. “The catch is that people apply and they might only have the tenant or landlord who has applied, not the other half; or they're missing critical information; or they haven’t followed up with a request for more information from the underwriting team.”
Housing advocates and landlord groups alike have criticized UniteCT for requiring participation from both property owners and tenants, among other things. When a relationship is strained, it’s hard to work together. But Parker says it’s the only way to avoid fraud. To date, the program has helped almost 6,000 households in Connecticut. But if one side refuses to participate, the financial help falls through.
That was the case for Caroline Raynis of Wallingford. She’s a full-time mom and landlord in the area. During the pandemic, one of her three properties was the site of a yearlong turbulent relationship. The tenants skipped out owing her over 10 months of back rent.
And unlike Mullin, she can’t apply to UniteCT.
“We were told by our governor that money was coming with basically no contingency, and then this program comes out with so many contingencies,” Raynis said. “I’d love nothing more for UniteCT to open up for individuals like myself because I am a taxpayer and voter just like everybody else.”
Since her tenants left without submitting an application to UniteCT, Raynis is ineligible for aid despite her experience.
The emergency rental assistance program strictly follows guidance from the U.S. Department of Treasury. Parker, of UniteCT, said while the state understands landlords’ concerns, the mission of this program is focused solely on helping tenants avoid homelessness.
“While landlords do benefit, since we pay landlords directly on behalf of their tenant, it’s not a landlord program,” Parker added.
The Department of Housing has never run a program of this scale, said Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno. And a landlord-focused program is in the works with other state agencies, she added.
Raynis said she understands that this is a once-in-a-lifetime situation, but she has felt abandoned by the system.
“I own this property outright. I don’t owe anybody anything, so for the government to tell me not only is the court system closed, I have to rent to these people, I have to take this abuse is unfair. I shouldn’t have been forced to uphold a business contract that was being violated,” she added.
Raynis believes eviction moratoriums were a blanket solution that forgot the little guys on the opposite side. Midsize and larger landlords might be able to more easily absorb the loss of thousands of dollars in rent. But for Raynis, that could mean not being able to fully provide for her family of seven.
With housing protections constantly changing, she hopes the government returns to trusting the court system that was created to handle these matters.
Rick Bush agrees. He’s with the Connecticut Coalition of Property Owners, one of the state’s largest property owners organizations. He’s been a landlord for over 25 years in Hartford County.
“It’s extremely expensive to have a tenant move out. You have a vacancy, you have repair and renovations, you have all sorts of issues that come along with tenants moving out. As a landlord, I absolutely do not want my tenants to move out. I want them to be happy, I want them to stay and I want them to be able to afford and pay their rent,” Bush said.
The coalition has over 450 members in Connecticut, representing nearly 20,000 rental units. And during the pandemic, Bush said he’s been able to connect with several landlords.
For the most part, property owners have been able to make arrangements with their tenants, whether it was applying for aid or scheduling a payback plan, Bush said. But there are a handful of landlords, like Mullin and Raynis, who faced challenges at the hands of their tenants. He believes those cases often go ignored because there’s a misconception about landlords and who’s being harmed.
“People often think landlords are greedy or that landlords are trying to hurt their tenants. That’s completely false,” Bush said. “And when an eviction is underway, it’s not always the tenant that’s being harmed. The landlord is the one not getting paid. If you walked into a restaurant, ate dinner and just said ‘Hey, I can’t afford to pay’ and left, you’d be arrested.”
Landlords who can’t access state aid or simply feel money can’t remedy the situation deserve their day in court, he said.
“They want to be able to move forward, they want to be able to be made whole,” he added.
Back in Derby, Mullin will continue to wait for the financial assistance he’s owed, he said, but he fears what could happen if it doesn’t come soon. The first time around, he was able to rely on his investments to pay the mortgage, but that’s not an option anymore.
“It’s getting to the point where I just need my money. I can’t dip into my retirement again,” he added.
When he does get paid, Mullin said he’ll be sure to put some aside in a rainy day fund, especially as concerns about the delta variant continue to increase. If more housing protections are in the works, he hopes small landlords get a seat at the table.
