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11 <br /> 1.) Ensuring attorneys are available to meet the demand <br /> 2.) Funds to enable tenants to stay in housing once they have demonstrated <br /> financial capacity to pay future rent <br /> Proposal: Eviction Diversion Program <br /> Need#1: Legal counsel for tenants facing eviction <br /> • Orange County Eviction Diversion Program would bring together an Orange County <br /> temporary employed bi-lingual attorney, Legal Aid of North Carolina, and pro bono <br /> attorneys to represent tenants and negotiate agreements between tenants and landlords <br /> to avoid eviction <br /> • County staff are working with the Orange County Bar Association and the NC Pro Bono <br /> Resource Center to identify local pro-bono attorneys, including bi-lingual attorneys, to <br /> meet additional community needs <br /> • Referrals to the program would come through the Housing Helpline — every person who <br /> calls in goes through needs assessment <br /> Proposal: Funding for EHA <br /> Need#2: Funds to stabilize tenants in their housing <br /> • Risk Mitigation and Housing Displacement Fund ( "Emergency Housing Assistance" sub- <br /> fund, formerly "Housing Stabilization Fund") pays for rent arrears and/or other eligible <br /> costs needed to keep tenants in housing <br /> • Board approved a one-time transfer of$100,000 from the Local Rent Supplement <br /> Program on April 7, 2020 <br /> • Since then, more than $110,000 in emergency housing assistance has gone to Orange <br /> County residents experiencing a housing crisis <br /> Funding Request Recommendations (chart) <br /> Recommendations <br /> 1.) Approve development of Eviction Diversion Program <br /> 2.) Approve Budget Amendment#9-A appropriating $187,950 from the Social Justice <br /> Reserve for the Program <br /> 3.) Authorize staff to seek funding for the Eviction Diversion Program from the Towns, and <br /> donations from the community and businesses <br /> PUBLIC COMMENT: <br /> Jamie Paulen said she sent her Tenant Right's Inc. proposal to Orange County Board of <br /> County Commissioners via email. She said Tenant Rights, Inc. proposes to help prevent <br /> individuals from becoming unsheltered by working to keep them in the housing in which they <br /> currently reside. She said Tenant Rights, Inc. believes that the best place for people to be in <br /> this COVID crisis is in the housing that is available. She said it plans to accomplish this by: <br /> providing legal representation to individuals who are facing evictions in Orange County; <br /> grassroots organizing across apartment complexes; and Lobbying the General Assembly for <br /> changes in the law; and legal representation. She said Tenant Rights, Inc. intends to offer legal <br /> representation in eviction proceedings to any resident or business operating in Orange County. <br /> She said she is the President and General Counsel of Tenant Rights, Inc. (CV attached), and <br /> she is a long time Orange County resident and tenant herself. She said she has 10 years of <br /> experience in landlord/tenant litigation in North Carolina, having represented residential and <br /> commercial landlords, residential and commercial tenants, and also spending two years <br /> deciding eviction cases as a magistrate in Orange County. She said this experience gives her <br />