Evictions remain stubbornly high in Buncombe County despite booming economy

At first glance, it looks like a couple of guys in ties manning a booth at a job fair.

But these gentlemen aren't looking to hire people. They're looking to keep them from becoming homeless.

"The whole point of this is to be here for the people who don’t know about Pisgah Legal Services, and they don’t know they have rights (as tenants) under North Carolina law,” said David Bartholomew, an attorney with PLS. "So a lot of what we do is prevent homelessness here. It’s the last line of defense.”

Pisgah Legal, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, has worked for years helping low-income residents with housing issues. But the nonprofit launched this particular initiative, called the Tenant Eviction Response Program, in the summer of 2018.

While unemployment is historically low and the economy is humming along, evictions remain stubbornly high in Buncombe County, which had 2,088 eviction filings in 2017 and 1,292 through July of 2018. Final numbers for 2018 aren't in, but if that July rate stayed on pace, evictions would total 2,220 for the year.

Asheville is not alone in the battle. In January, the Pew Charitable Trusts "Stateline" online publication published an article titled, "Black Southerners Are Bearing the Brunt of America’s Eviction Epidemic."

Stateline cited Princeton University's Eviction Lab, which found that, "U.S. property owners had submitted at least 2.3 million eviction filings in 2016." The findings also showed, "Black renters disproportionately bore the brunt of the eviction crisis."

Moving the needle in the right direction

That's not the direction Pisgah Legal and other affordable housing advocates want to see these numbers heading, and that was part of the impetus in creating the TERP.

It seems to be helping. Pisgah Legal notes that from July 1, 2018-Jan. 31, 2019, the nonprofit closed 75 percent more eviction cases in Buncombe County than in the same period of 2017. Of those cases, 150 percent more clients have received representation from PLS attorneys, rather than just advice.

The idea with TERP is to periodically station Bartholomew and another housing attorney, Thomas Lodwick, in the courthouse to meet people facing eviction, literally just prior to their hearings before a magistrate judge.

On a recent Thursday, the two attorneys were stationed outside the Small Claims Court, looking for clients to help before the hearings began. They find out what the conflict is about, look at the legal complaint that's been filed and assess if the person meets Pisgah Legal's parameters for assistance, which range from income levels to the number of people in the home.

If they can, the attorneys will take the client on right there.

"Lots of times we try to negotiate with the landlord, try to work out a situation that works out for both parties," Bartholomew said. "Sometimes we get continuance if there’s seems like there’s a big problem or there’s something we need to go out and investigate." 

Evie White, a spokeswoman for Pisgah Legal, said the program is proving popular with tenants and landlords.

"Our goal for this first year was to help 200 people," White said. "As of (early December), we’ve served 173 people, and we still have until June 30, 2019 to reach that year-end (goal)."

'I have $1,000 I can pay now'

With several people facing eviction, the attorneys take them into a side room to discuss their situations, but they could not get to everyone.

One woman, a single mother of a 2-year-old daughter, was facing eviction from her public housing apartment. She owed $1,292 in rent and $242 in other charges to the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville.

"I have $1,000 I can pay now," she said in court. "Other than that, I'm having trouble getting back and forth to work, and with child care."

The Housing Authority agrees to take the $1,000 and let her stay for now, and the magistrate judge agrees.

Outside the courtroom, the 26-year-old woman says she's relieved. For now.

She acknowledges missing several months of rent.

"I haven’t had any child care vouchers since two years ago, so it’s been hard trying to find someone to watch my child,” she said, adding that she's had to cut back her work as a nurse's aid to about 20 hours a week so she can care for her daughter.

She asked that her name not appear in the newspaper. The attorneys note that once someone has an eviction on their record, it makes getting another apartment really tough, as most landlords do background checks.

On this day, the court is hearing mostly public housing cases, as it's the one day a month they're scheduled. Lodwick and Bartholomew concur that the Housing Authority is good to work with.

“I think the Housing Authority is really flexible and works with tenants," Lodwick said. "As far as private landlords, we never really know."

Housing Authority cases

Public housing, which is subsidized by federal tax dollars, offers some of the cheapest rents in Asheville. But in an economy dominated by service jobs, dozens of residents still come up short on rent.

In 2018, the Housing authority conducted 115 evictions, up slightly from 112 the year before. For 2018, non-payment resulted in 79 evictions, criminal activity 16, non-compliance with rules 11 and drug activity 9, according to Housing Authority statistics.

In 2017, nonpayment was the cause behind 78 evictions, compared to 10 for criminal activity, 11 for drugs and 13 for non-compliance to rules.

The Housing Authority does not conduct evictions nearly as quickly as many landlords.

"For the non-payment cases, residents who have not paid by the fifth of each month receive a 14-day letter, and generally we do not file in court until near the end of that month," said David Nash, chief operating officer at HACA. "Those cases are heard during the middle of the next month, then there is a 10-day appeal waiting period and another 10-14 days before enforcement of an eviction judgment."

The authority will also pause proceedings if a tenant can come up with back rent.

"If the only issue is non-payment of rent, and the tenant has not already been filed in court three times, we accept payment at any time during that two-month period and then dismiss the eviction action," Nash said, adding that they will refer tenants to community resources that offer assistance, including the Eblen Foundation or Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministries. "So the evictions for non-payment (listed above) are tenants who have failed to pay what they owe at any time during that two-month period."

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Also, the Housing Authority generally does not file in court for non-payment until a resident’s balance has reached at least $100, Nash said. That gives tenants who are paying the minimum rent of $25 per month, time to pay up their balances.

"If we have a resident with a high balance, we offer the option of a repayment agreement, so that balance can be paid off in monthly installments over a period of time," Nash added.

Bartholomew said private landlords run the gamut when it comes to cooperation.

"Some folks really get it; they understand; they want to work with their tenants,” Bartholomew said. “They know that it’s tough out there. Others, it’s just a business. You fall behind, and somebody else is going to move in.”

'Summary ejectment'

Jim Barrett, executive director of Pisgah Legal Services, notes that North Carolina laws are challenging for tenants because landlords can file for a “summary ejectment proceeding.” The Housing Authority is more lenient, but many landlords want the problem solved more quickly and pursue summary ejectment.

"Instead of getting 30 days to answer (the legal notice) and time to go to court like you would in a regular lawsuit, it's expedited," Barrett said. "So people who are working might have difficulty getting a lawyer, and they probably would not even know how to subpoena witnesses. If they're behind on their rent, it's a very short window for them to get it together."

The law will allow a tenants in some cases to get the back rent together and get the case dismissed. But many of these folks are living paycheck to paycheck at best.

"People are pressed extraordinarily here when it comes to making ends meet," Barrett said. "If their car breaks down, a spouse gets sick, someone loses their income — even if they get the flu for a week and can't work — they're at risk of being evicted."

Tenant-landlord law is also complex, and a lot of tenants don't know what their basic rights are. Pisgah Legal can help with advice, and a pamphlet provided by the North Carolina State Bar.

For instance, that brochure notes, "A landlord in North Carolina may not use self help such as cutting off utilities or locking tenants out of their homes in lieu of Summary Ejectment."

Buncombe County is also a notoriously expensive place to live. A May 2017 Citizen Times report noted that 52.3 percent of Buncombe County renters, about 16,000 people, qualified as "cost-burdened," meaning they spend at least one-third or more of their income on housing. That was according to data the Housing Assistance Council gathered from the 2009-2013 American Community Survey.

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As Bartholomew says, "It’s a lot of people with big problems," so they triage the cases quickly, try to negotiate with landlords on the spot, if possible, and ask for cases to be continued, if necessary. Evictions can happen in as little as three weeks after a tenant has fallen behind, and a lot of renters are just barely staying ahead of the pile of bills.

“Even a brief gap in employment can throw that whole equation off,” Lodwick said. “And then once it’s gone to court, the landlords want court costs, which is $126 to settle it, and probably late fees. It just adds up.”

“A lot of people are trying to make choices about paying utilities and rent and car payments," Bartholomew adds.

Landlord: 'Sometimes you get taken advantage of'

Asheville resident Hartwell Carson is one of those landlords who has always felt like he "gets it" when it comes to people struggling to make ends meet. He works as a riverkeeper for a local environmental nonprofit, and he and his wife, who also works, have two small children.

As a "side gig" and retirement investment strategy, Carson has financed five rentals in the Asheville area. He too was in court on a recent Thursday, but he was one of those landlords filing eviction papers on a tenant.

Normally, Carson said, he sides with tenants because of the well-known stereotype of the "big bad landlord" who has no heart and only cares about getting the rent on time.

"But in my case, I’m sort of like the ‘broke landlord,’ because if you don’t pay the rent, then I can’t pay the mortgage and we all lose," Carson said. "It’s tough, because you try to be really nice to people, but sometimes you get taken advantage of, and that’s my case right now. And really two times in a row.”

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Just as there are "bad apple" landlords, he says, there are also "bad apple" tenants.

Carson has had a bad run of late with a couple of tenants, who didn't pay the rent and broke items in the dwellings. In one case, that including plumbing, which resulted in a leak and a $1,000 plumbing bill. A while back, he had another tenant who wouldn't pay the rent for a couple of months and then just left, leaving everything behind in the unit, as well as a broken down car out front.

He had to pay to get everything hauled off.

On the latest case, the tenant owed about $1,300, half the rent on a duplex for November and December. Carson's mortgage on the place is about $900 a month.

“If you just look at this house, I do pretty well on the rent, but I have a couple of other houses that I don’t do so well on,” Carson said. “So it kind of all goes into one pot.”

The tenant has had a lot of reasons for not making the rent, including a boyfriend who left her and stuck her with the rent. Some reasons sound valid, Carson said, but some definitely do not.

After getting stiffed twice in a row on two different properties, Carson said now he’s going to be “a little less lenient with everybody.”

Standing in the courthouse hallway, Carson exchanged pleasantries with Lodwick, who used to work at Carson's environmental group, Mountaintrue. Carson said, "it's awesome you guys do this," meaning help out struggling tenants.

"Not to give you my hand, but I’m willing to negotiate,” Carson said with a laugh, adding that the woman said she got some assistance from Eblen Charities.

He told her to use that money toward a down payment on another place to live. At this point, Carson just wanted to eliminate the drama from his life and get someone who can pay on time.

If he can, he'd prefer not to stick the renter with an eviction on her record.

Lodwick and Bartholomew said that can lead to all kinds of problems for renters.

"If the landlord does a credit check, it’s going to show up,” Lodwick said. “A lot of landlords won’t rent to people with that (on their record).”

“A lot of them, that's if you’ve had an eviction in the last two years,” Bartholowmew said.
"Also, often if landlords don’t do a background check, the property is often in bad shape and they’re borderline desperate for a tenant."

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Carson had not hired an attorney because legal fees could quickly equal or surpass the amount he's owed, about $1,300. 

Trailer homes particularly problematic

The Pisgah Legal attorneys have seen a wide variety of eviction cases, but they agree cases involving trailer homes are particularly gut-wrenching.

“If you own the trailer and rent the lot, you’re in a really precarious situation,” Lodwick said. “Because unless your lease provides otherwise, state law says the landlord can just give you a 60-day notice to terminate that lease, terminate the tenancy, then you’ve got two months to figure out how to move a trailer that is going to be very expensive to move.”

Buncombe County has 15,500 mobile homes, counting single- and double-wide homes, according to the Buncombe County Tax Assessor's office. Of those, 9,300 are on land owned by someone other than the home owner, and 6,200 are on land also owned by the home owner.

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Pisgah Legal sees plenty of cases where a tenant actually has no lease, or a lease that provides no other time frame, so the 60 days becomes the default. Moving a trailer can easily run in the $3,000-$5,000, range, "and that’s if you have somewhere to move it to,” Lodwick said.

If the tenant can't afford to move it, the situation can quickly turn disastrous.

“We get a lot of people, their trailer is barely worth what it costs to move it, and the lot rent is higher now," Bartholomew said. "It keeps going up every year. A lot of times they have to abandon the trailer and move farther out. That’s the decision: They own something but there’s no way for them to keep it.”

"Those are just brutal cases, because these are people that feel like they own their home, and then all of sudden they realize they don’t have that security as long as they’re on someone else’s lot,” Lodwick said. “Also, the lot rent keeps going up, but it tends to be lower than normal rent. So you’re looking at can I move my trailer, but I’m also looking at more than double the rent than what I pay on my trailer.”

Buncombe County eviction filings by year:

1998: 2,137
1999: 1,971
2000: 2,242
2001: 2,295
2002: 2,156
2003: 2,536
2004: 2,736
2005: 2,845
2006: 2,797
2007: 2,922
2008: 2,745
2009: 2,476
2010: 2,568
2011: 2,779
2012: 2,668
2013: 2,509
2014: 2,342
2015: 1,927
2016: 2,219
2017: 2,088
2018 (as of 7/31/18): 1,292

Source: Pisgah Legal Services

About Pisgah Legal Services: Founded in 1978, Pisgah Legal provides legal assistance and advocacy to help low-income people in Western North Carolina meet their basic needs and improve their lives.

To apply for services, call between 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.,  Monday–Friday: 828-253-0406 or toll free 1-800-489-6144.