Texas Tribune: Some landlords got a piece of Texas’ $2 billion in rent relief money — and evicted their struggling tenants anyway

When Cherice Scott received a notice last September that she, her husband and their four children would soon be kicked out of their Katy apartment, she said employees at the complex told her not to worry about it.

Scott and her husband had fallen behind on rent in June after Scott stopped working to take care of her youngest daughter, who has Down syndrome, and the medical bills piled up.

The next month, their landlord started the eviction process, even though Scott, 37, had taken the rental office staff's advice and requested help from Texas' $2 billion, federally backed rental assistance fund. Scott said she spoke to the office staff and walked away believing she didn't need to worry about eviction as they waited for the relief money — or to bother showing up to court.

When the state sent the rent relief check to the wrong address, Scott said the staff assured her they were working to get the money re-sent.

"I trusted them," Scott said. "I shouldn't have."

Scott had landed a new job as a dietician at a local hospital when she returned from work one afternoon in early October to find most of her belongings spread out on the lawn and the locks changed. Thieves had walked off with their electronics.

Jeff Williams, a Harris County justice of the peace, had approved the eviction without Scott present in court — a typical outcome in eviction cases when tenants don't show up to their hearings.

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But receiving rent relief dollars wasn't guaranteed, so some landlords filed for eviction in case the money didn't come through and as a last resort after months of going without rent, Mintz said. Under the program rules, landlords are allowed to evict only in specific situations, such as lease violations related to criminal activity, property damage or "physical harm" to others, Mintz pointed out.

If tenants feel they have been unjustly evicted, they can appeal the eviction, Mintz said. Any allegations that "either a renter or a rental property owner isn't following the program rules" should be reported to the program to be investigated, he said.

"We believe owners have done their best to try to understand the intricacies of the program and comply with its requirements," Mintz said.

When Congress set aside more than $46 billion for emergency rental assistance, they intended for that money to keep people in their homes, said U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat from Houston. The idea of landlords taking rent relief dollars and still evicting tenants is "outrageous," she said, and could warrant investigation.

"I think any landlord that accepted money or got money directly for rent absolutely should not have evicted anyone," Garcia said. "And if they did, it should be audited and reviewed by [government investigators] so that we can recoup our funds for the misuse of the dollars."