Buncombe County evictions march on post-Helene

After Tropical Storm Helene, Michael Coates was faced with a choice: Pay rent or buy a generator to power his refrigerator to keep his insulin chilled. He chose his health. Now, he’s been evicted.

Coates, a chef for Stable Cafe on Biltmore Estate before he was furloughed Oct. 14 because of the storm, lived in Shiloh with his wife. He says he’s not sure when he’ll be able to go back to work, even though Biltmore Estate reopened Nov. 2. Biltmore spokesperson Marissa Jamison says the estate has temporarily reduced staffing levels due to challenges from Tropical Storm Helene. It plans to increase staffing levels “as business conditions allow,” she adds.

Nonetheless, Coates’ landlord filed for eviction after he couldn’t pay October rent due to being out of work.

“It’s ridiculous. I mean, to kick somebody out during a natural disaster is low,” Coates says.

After a hearing Nov. 13, a magistrate found Coates owed two months of rent, and the eviction, known as a complaint in summary ejectment, was granted. Coates told Xpress Nov. 25 that he had to be out of the house by the end of the month. It’s unclear if he was able to find a new place after his eviction, as multiple attempts to reach Coates in December went unanswered.

Coates is one of many whom Pisgah Legal Services, a nonprofit providing legal assistance and advocacy for low-income people in Western North Carolina, has attempted to help since Tropical Storm Helene ravaged the region in late September. Pisgah Legal and several other advocacy groups have been pushing Gov. Roy Cooper for a 90-day eviction moratorium.

“We know that many people are hurting right now. I mean, this includes both landlords and tenants. What we are asking for is time. We need time to advocate for rental assistance, which will support both tenants and landlords. Choosing to proceed as if things are normal is a mistake,” said Jackie Kiger, executive director of Pisgah Legal, at a press conference Nov. 1.

While evictions aren’t technically up compared with October and November 2023, the further we get from the storm date, the higher numbers climb, according to David Bartholomew, homelessness prevention program director for Pisgah Legal. Since the storm, there have been 388 evictions filed in 10 WNC counties, with a majority of those in Buncombe, he says.

The Buncombe County Courthouse was closed for two weeks after the storm, accounting for some of the delay in filings.

“We haven’t ever experienced something like this in Western North Carolina, but we know from other places that have had hurricanes that without moratoriums, you see evictions start to increase after 60 days,” he says.

Possibly more telling is the demand for Pisgah’s services, which is up 110% since the storm, Bartholomew says.

“[There have been] more than double the amount of cases that we normally have for landlord-tenant issues since the storm. We have a huge increase in people calling. Not all those people are facing eviction. Some of them have no running water, poor conditions, those types of issues. Some people are looking to try to get out of their lease when they have lost their job. But a lot of those people are being threatened with notices to vacate and, ultimately, eviction,” he says.

A plea for a pause

In a letter signed by more than 500 elected officials, faith leaders, business leaders, nonprofit representatives and community members of WNC, advocates argue that a moratorium is needed to avoid a deeper economic crisis in the tourism-dependent region. Many businesses were either closed for over a month because of damage to the area’s water system or wiped off the map altogether. The letter was sent Nov. 18 to Cooper, N.C. Chief Justice Paul Newby and the N.C. General Assembly.

“Without immediate action, we face not only further displacement but a long-term economic disaster. Our communities’ ability to recover from this unprecedented storm will be severely undermined if we fail to protect our residents from eviction. Displaced tenants will have nowhere to go in a housing market already stretched thin, further straining our already burdened businesses, schools and essential services,” the letter says.

When asked by Xpress if an eviction moratorium was possible before he leaves office in January, Cooper’s office sent a statement.

“We continue to review the need for additional executive action as well as legislation by the General Assembly to support families in Western North Carolina,” writes press secretary Ben Conroy in an email.

In October, Cooper requested $25 million for rental, mortgage and utility assistance in areas affected by Helene, but state lawmakers approved just $1 million for that program, which advocates say isn’t nearly enough.

At a rally Oct. 16 dozens of protesters gathered on a frigid day in front of the Buncombe County Courthouse to draw attention to their fight.

“We need people to be housed, not out on the streets in this kind of weather after such a devastating natural disaster,” said Jen Hampton, chair of the Asheville Food and Beverage United and housing and wages organizer for Just Economics. “We did not have a choice about facing a natural disaster, but we do have a choice about whether we face an economic disaster.”

Another element of evictions that worries advocates is their black mark on people’s records.

“When you file an eviction against a tenant, it creates a permanent legal record that’s available to the public regardless of the outcome of the case. So background screenings often don’t specify the outcome of the case and can be inaccurate,” Kiger says. “Having that eviction record can generate just a slew of negative consequences for tenants, and it can really limit people’s ability to seek out additional future housing opportunities, which, again, we have lost so many affordable units already, they simply don’t exist.”

While some landlords may be overly rigid, others have their own bills to pay and can’t afford to allow rent to lapse, Bartholomew acknowledged.

Bryan Holladay, a spokesperson for the Apartment Association of Western North Carolina, which represents landlords of multifamily properties, told The Washington Post that landlords depend on rent to pay property taxes, electricity bills and building maintenance costs. Holladay did not respond to Xpress’ request for comment by press time but told the Post that Apartment Association members try to work with their tenants by waiving late fees, setting up payment plans and helping them fill out paperwork for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Marcia Mount Shoop, pastor of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Asheville, has been helping renters since the storm began. She says many landlords are working with advocates to help keep struggling tenants housed.

“We do appreciate all the landlords who are working with us and not charging late fees, the ones who are supporting their residents with a reassurance that it’s OK if the rent is late; there are those landlords out here who are joining us in this work,” she said at a briefing at the church Nov. 1. “But unfortunately, there are also landlords who are intimidating their residents with threats of eviction if they don’t pay the rent on time,” she added.

Help available

Grace Covenant has given out more than $1 million in rent relief since the storm, in addition to operating a supply center.

On a visit to the church in early November, Xpress saw dozens of anxious tenants perusing supplies such as camping gear and waiting to speak with a church representative about receiving rent relief. Many of those coming to the church are ineligible for other sources of aid that require Social Security numbers or proof of income, Mount Shoop says.

“The work we’re doing is supporting the backbone of the workforce of this region’s service economy, the people who work in restaurants washing dishes, the people who clean hotel rooms that tourists stay in,” she noted.

Assistance is also available at Eblen Charities. Asheville City Council and Buncombe County Board of Commissioners have allocated $2.5 million to the problem collectively.

Nonetheless, rent assistance is a Band-Aid on the problem, and advocates argue a moratorium is the only way to avoid a surge in homelessness.

In hard-hit Swannanoa, sisters Beth Trigg and Mary Etheridge-Trigg have been helping anyone who comes looking for resources at Swannanoa Communities Together, a group they formed after the storm to help the community between Asheville and Black Mountain.

Using donations and social media pleas, they’ve helped more than 100 residents avoid evictions or find places to stay by matching up residents with available homes in their price range. They’ve also helped connect residents to resources at Grace Covenant without having to travel.

“This is not charity; this is people showing up for each other. We were already a community, but the level of people showing up for strangers is like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Etheridge-Trigg says.

Compounding fears

Despite all the grassroots efforts, advocates worry that resources will soon run thin, if they haven’t already, and continue to push for a moratorium.

Antoine Boykin is a barber, physical therapist and volunteer with the Asheville Dream Center, a Christian group that ministers in low-income areas. After the storm, he’s been a part of teams bringing supplies into subsidized housing neighborhoods. People, he says, are scared.

“You talk to these people, they’ve got two or three kids, they don’t have fresh water, and their rent is not paid. But are you going to pay rent or are you going to feed your children? And most people say, ‘I’m going to feed my children because at least that’ll keep them alive.’”

Many people have left the area to find work or affordable rent, he notes, but not everyone can afford that.

“Someone who was living paycheck to paycheck has just been devastated. People who were experiencing poverty already have been put deeper into poverty, and that cycle of poverty, that’s what we see on the ground at Pisgah Legal Services. Unfortunately, we have seen this before the hurricane, and we’re seeing an increase now because of the impact of that hurricane,” adds Kiger.