INDIANAPOLIS — A statewide moratorium on evictions and utility shutoffs for those who can’t pay will soon expire as Indiana continues to face the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Gov. Eric Holcomb said at a weekly virtual update Wednesday there will be other support available to renters as the moratorium ends. For one, the state plans to spend an additional $15 million on a rental assistance program offering grants to renters in most Indiana counties. The state will also extend a mediation practice — typically used to help homeowners avoid foreclosure — to renters and their landlords, before a dispute ends up in eviction court.
The rental assistance program started accepting applications July 13. Jacob Sipe, executive director of the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, said there have been 24,000 applicants so far. Many renters applied on the first day, when the program received around 8,000 applications.
The program is not available in Marion County, which is offering its own assistance to area renters. But of the 91 counties that are eligible for the state program, just five make up almost 45% of the applications received so far, Sipe said.
Around 18% of the applications came from Lake County, for example, and another 10.5% came from St. Joseph County. Applications from Allen County made up almost 8.5% of those received, while Tippecanoe and Vanderburgh counties contributed around 4% each.
In addition to the expanded rental assistance program, the state is working to expand a free substitute to court for tenants at risk of eviction. The tenant and landlord would meet with a neutral person instead of a judge in what is called a settlement facilitation program. If the parties reach an agreement, that can end the dispute without having to go before a judge.
This alternative closely resembles a mediation practice already used for homeowners at risk of foreclosure and is welcoming support from Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush, who did not appear at the press conference but did give a written statement on the new program.
“Since 2009, the Indiana Supreme Court’s Mortgage Foreclosure Trial Court Assistance Project has helped avert foreclosures by facilitating settlement conferences between homeowners and lenders,” Rush said. “We are expanding this vital program given the pandemic.”
