Following widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Helene, the Western North Carolina Tenants Network has been organizing and advocating to enact a statewide eviction and foreclosure moratorium. Recently, the organization, comprising renters across Western North Carolina (WNC), sent a letter to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby, Council of State members, and General Assembly members urging them to take immediate action to prevent further displacement and economic harm to families impacted by the storm. Survivors and concerned citizens in North Carolina are still able to sign on to the letter.
The Tenant Network is advocating for a 90-day moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, as well as $25 million in rental assistance due to damage caused by Hurricane Helene that has left thousands of residents at risk of eviction. Local and state rental assistance programs are not fully operational in the region, and the North Carolina General Assembly’s relief bill in October allocated only $1 million for rental assistance, which would only cover 297 of 158,000 household applications. At a press conference in Buncombe County, Tenant Network representatives warned that the region would face “economic disaster” if evictions and foreclosures continue.
The open letter asserts that community recovery would be “severely undermined” without these renter protections and urges state leadership to impose the moratorium quickly. Survivors have already lost jobs and homes from the storm and are “struggling to rebuild their lives.” Evictions would further destabilize their paths towards recovery.
NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) supports the WNC Tenants Network’s efforts to enact an eviction and foreclosure moratorium. The DHRC and more than 20 other national organizations sent a letter to Governor Cooper and Justice Newby on October 17 urging implementation of this moratorium. A previous state-wide letter, sent on October 15 and led by the NC Inclusive Disaster Recovery Network and the NC Housing Coalition, requested a similar moratorium. The DHRC applauds the organizations across North Carolina working to achieve this moratorium and stands ready to support their efforts.
Read the WNC Tenants Network’s open letter here. Sign on to the letter here.
Read the DHRC’s national letter here.