Atlanta uses affordable housing trust fund to fight evictions

• Atlanta has a backlog of 10,000 to 12,000 eviction filings, Atlanta Housing Commission chair Andy Schneggenburger told councilmembers at a meeting last month.

By the numbers: More than $6.4 million from the fund is now earmarked for the construction of rentals for households earning between $35,750 to $63,350 a year.

• Those funds will also support for-sale housing construction for households making between $57,200 to $101,360 a year.
• $2.4 million is earmarked for housing-related programs. Another $2 million will support eviction diversion.
• $750,000 is set aside for contingency reserves and Invest Atlanta.

Yes, but: Housing Justice League executive director Alison Johnson told Axios in an email that Atlanta needs to be more robust in preventing evictions. She said a tenants bill of rights has been repeatedly presented to City Hall.

• Johnson said the last three city administrations did not build any affordable housing for people at 30% of the area median income, or for example, a family of four that annually earns $30,630.
• "I hope the city intends to build housing for extremely low income households. Almost 80% of new development is luxury development," Johnson said.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Housing Commission gave the city recommendations to reduce evictions:

• Permanently fund Atlanta's eviction defense program for renters attorneys.
• Require landlords receiving public investments to accept more forms of rental aid.
• Require disclosure of all rental costs prior to receiving application fees and deposits.
• Advocate for a state law to give tenants seven days to fix violations before being evicted, and written notice of an eviction filing.

Go Deeper: What is Atlanta's affordable housing trust fund actually used for? (Atlanta Civic Circle)

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