Mills says she’s considering rent relief fund, executive order to stop evictions

At Tuesday’s press briefing, Governor Janet Mills said that her administration is considering actions to support renters and small business owners facing eviction because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve been brainstorming about this everyday. What we are doing is taking a targeted approach,” Mills said in response to a question about small businesses and landlords joining housing advocates in calling for a freeze on evictions and foreclosures.

“We’re looking to amass a short-term funding source for payment of peoples’ rental obligations, residential rent. That measure will be announced in the coming days,” she said.

Mills’ comments Tuesday suggest that blanket rent forgiveness will not be part of her administration’s response.

“We can’t forgive the rent that’s due,” she said. “We can’t say you don’t owe the rent. That’s a contractual matter.”

She also said that her administration is considering an executive order to halt eviction orders.

“We’re looking at a carefully targeted executive order that will stop writs of possession [court orders issued after a landlord wins an eviction lawsuit] from taking place, from being issued in residential cases and pressing commercial cases as well,” Mills said.

She added, “I can’t imagine being evicted in this atmosphere, at this time, in the middle of this crisis, whether it’s a shop owner on Exchange Street or an apartment dweller on Munjoy Hill, or in Kennedy Park, or anywhere in the state of Maine. This is not the right time for any landlord to be evicting anybody. Anybody.”

Hours before the press conference, 1,800 virtual petitions were sent to the administration with many Maine landlords and renters supporting an eviction freeze and rent support and sharing concerns of losing their homes in the midst of the public health crisis.

The petition calls for the governor to issue a moratorium on all evictions and foreclosures of residences and small businesses, which will be extended to at least 90 days after the governor declares the public health emergency over.

It also calls for rents and mortgages to be forgiven during the moratorium and the establishment of a program to help property owners receive financial assistance from the government for lost revenue.

Mills remarks on Tuesday show that she is now considering having the state become more directly involved in addressing the problem of rents and mortgages needing to be paid amid widespread job losses and looming recession.

Previously, during a March 31 press conference, Mills said that the problem of Mainers not being able to afford rent is not “one-size-fits-all,” and that she preferred then to tackle the problem informally.

“I have spoken to banks, financial institutions and a number of landlords making sure that they are ready to accommodate people’s needs, for people who cannot pay the rent and can’t pay all the rent because of the response to this virus,” Mills said at the time. “Every one of them has assured me that they are willing to work with tenants who are facing nonpayment.”

Photo: still from Maine Public’s stream on Governor Janet Mills’ April 7 press briefing.