Media Contact:

Ms. Jane Williams, Durham CAN Affordable Housing Action Team

First Presbyterian Church

336-577-8240 | [email protected] 

Ms. Ava Thompson, Durham CAN Affordable Housing Action Team

Holy Cross Catholic Church

919-370-0018 | [email protected]   

Durham CAN Proposes Durham Housing Authority Eviction Policy Changes

DURHAM, North Carolina, JANUARY 27, 2021 -- On Monday, January 18th, Durham Congregations, Associations and Neighborhoods (CAN) submitted a proposal to the Durham Housing Authority (DHA) Board of Commissioners, requesting changes to its eviction policy and practices.  Durham CAN leaders will provide public comment about the proposal at tonight’s DHA Board of Commissioners meeting at 5:30 PM.

The proposal is informed by eviction research and recommendations from the Durham Human Relations Commission 2018 Report On Evictions Crisis In Durham County, the 2020 Report of the Durham Racial Equity Task Force: An Urgent and Loving Call to Action, research conducted by Durham CAN’s Eviction Action Team over 18 months examining the policies of other similarly situated public housing agencies, and a monthly eviction court watching campaign that Durham CAN leaders began in August 2019 in response to concerns raised by neighbors in the Hoover Road DHA community.  The proposal highlights that:

1.  A delay in filing for eviction and the use of interventions to assist residents in rent payment will decrease evictions;

2.  DHA has proposed interventions (rental assistance resources through DSS, hardship exemptions, the Eviction Prevention Pilot) with residents to decrease evictions.  With a time limit of 3 weeks from payment due to filing, accomplishment of these interventions is nearly impossible; and

3.  Direct communication between the property manager and resident that is initiated by the property manager is critical in decreasing eviction filings and ultimate evictions.

View the proposal in its entirety here.