Lexington officials hope to prevent evictions as federal protection is set to expire

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - The federal eviction moratorium will expire on July 31. Renters and landlords will lose protection on any unpaid bills.

Several agencies are working to prevent that in the final week.

Brenda Wells thinks evictions are inevitable. “Of course we’re going to see evictions. We’re going to continue seeing the filing of evictions.”

Wells is the executive director of the Greater Lexington Apartment Association. She’s been part of conversations with the White House to prevent evictions.

“We’re working with Legal Aid of the Bluegrass here and they have come up with the Lexington eviction diversion program,” she explained. “There’re seven different steps to that program.”

Wells said the biggest challenge is making sure people are aware of the aid. That includes both tenants and landlords.

Lexington officials have acknowledged some issues getting adjusted though. They’ve said it took time to hire and train staff, purchase software, and build an application.

Wells said with new employees, she’s hoping the process will move quicker in this final week. “Case workers will be available to check the status of the applications that have applied but not processed yet so they can get the status of those applications.”

“By doing so, this will prevent evictions and prevent homelessness, which is the last thing we want for our city.”

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