Can’t pay your rent? This free Sacramento service helps with disputes — but it’s swamped

Requests for help have come in by the hundreds, over the phone, via email and through a collection form. The cases are complicated. The Sacramento Mediation Center, according to the director of the organization that runs it, has been “inundated” with landlords and tenants trying to resolve disputes during the coronavirus pandemic.

Weeks after California’s eviction moratorium ended, the center is still receiving around twice as many calls for assistance from landlords and tenants as usual, according to Jody Prunier, associate director and director of Sacramento programs with California Lawyers for the Arts. CA Lawyers for the Arts runs SMC, a nonprofit funded in part by Sacramento County grants.

“There’s a lot of overwhelming sadness, and fear, and confusion, and uncertainty,” Prunier said. “Everyone is trying to be very helpful, but the nature of the pandemic itself, the nature of the eviction moratorium, the nature of laws and orders and how they’re written, are very confusing to the layperson.”

Prunier emphasized that figuring out what to do when you can’t pay your rent is harder when you don’t speak the language — the center has dealt with a lot of cases involving language barriers. The Bee reported earlier in the pandemic that Sacramento’s Latino families have faced higher risks of eviction.

Did you get an eviction notice in California? Don’t leave yet. Follow these steps

Mediation and its cost

In 2020, the City of Sacramento hired SMC using $150,000 of Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act dollars to provide free mediation services for residential and commercial landlords and tenants. Mediation is a structured process where a third party tries to help disputing parties resolve conflict. In this case, the services are completely voluntary and separate from the court system. Those services may not remain free for much longer.

Though the CARES-funded SMC program ran from July 2020 until March 2021, the mediation center has continued to provide those free services for city residents. In the first six months of the program, the center handled more than 400 cases. Since January, they’ve seen more than 375 cases, Prunier said.

Not all of those cases result in mediation — sometimes they result in actions like referrals to legal aid services. But the center is relying on just three full time staff members and a number of law interns to sort through those hundreds of inquiries.

And that’s not all those employees are focusing on. In addition to the mediation program, they also work on other types of conflicts for people living in Sacramento County.

California’s eviction ban ends soon. Here’s how renters can protect themselves

The SMC and CA Lawyers for the Arts is now internally considering whether to charge for the mediation services it was providing free to city landlords and tenants.

For the broader mediation services it provides, the center charges a $25 administrative fee up front and then charges each party in a dispute confidentially on a sliding, income-based scale.

“We are seeking additional funding,” Prunier said. “It’s a quandary because we know that funding would go to direct services in the first instance, of course.”

Danielle Foster, housing manager for the city, said that the city recognizes that help with affording rent and landlord-tenant issues is an area of continuing need.

“We appreciate all the work the Mediation Center has done to continue providing the service, and we will continue to talk to them and figure out ways to provide the resources that are needed.”

Foster added that right now is a “pivotal” moment with the eviction moratorium ending, so it’s important to get the word out that services like mediation and also the city’s rental hotline are available to help. Though the reopening of the community is helping, the city continues to provide financial assistance to residents and commercial tenants.

Tips if you get an eviction notice in California

First: Don’t leave yet. There’s still plenty you can do. Landlords can’t take you to court until 20 days after they issue the eviction notice.

And you have 15 days to apply for rental assistance.

Aside from applying for rental assistance, the best step you can take during this process is to get legal assistance or hire an attorney. Mediation is also an option to avoid going to court.

Eviction is a complicated process. For a full guide with the steps you can follow, click here.

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