RENTERS

San Antonio Councilwoman Melissa Cabello-Havrda, Police Chief William McManus, city staff, and West Side residents dropped in on a local apartment complex that’s been on the city’s radar for years after facing many issues.

TOWN SQUARE | The focus on including on-time rent payments is meant to help people with a limited credit history qualify for homeownership.

The latest Consumer Price Index backs up what renters already know: They are paying a lot more.

Debt charity StepChange is calling for emergency support for renters who have fallen behind on payments.

Around 176,000 renter households had received assistance by the end of May, according to government data. However, more than 11 million renters are behind.

SAN ANTONIO – Residents who live at a Southeast Side apartment complex said recurring power outages have become more than an inconvenience -- they are causing health concerns. Steve Rocco, an apartment resident, said because of health reasons, he and his family were forced out of their apartment around 6 p.m. Sunday when the power went out. Tenants said it took 26 hours after the power went out Sunday for management to bring in generators. But renters said the generators are unreliable and the power went out again, and didn’t come back on until early Tuesday morning. But that’s what my conversation was with the electrical company that we hired,” said property manager Angel Menjivar.

The Neighborhood and Housing Services Department (NHSD) for the city of San Antonio has extended its Renters' Commission survey to October 31 in order to gather more input from San Antonians. Staff is currently analyzing local and national strategies to achieve the goal of increased renter representation and planning an engagement effort to involve people impacted by renters' issues into the process, the city said. “Renters represent many diverse families, including ones who fall within the digital divide,” stated Councilman Roberto Treviño. The median household income for renters is $33,690, the city said. The City is also hosting focus groups to receive additional input on the proposed Renters' Commission.

SAN ANTONIO – The St. Mary’s University School of Law has launched a hotline for South Texas residents who are experiencing housing issues due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. “It’s really uncharted territory for people and something where they do need legal assistance," Fajardo said. “People aren’t even aware that there’s rental assistance available in both the city of San Antonio and in Bexar County to help them get caught back up on their rent. “Maybe one-third to a half of San Antonio properties are still under the moratorium, where they cannot be removed or evicted from their property," she said. The university said legal representatives will be able to share resource information about payment assistance and forms renters can fill out to represent themselves during eviction proceedings.

San Antonio – Concerns about evictions are on the mind for a lot of families whose members have lost their jobs recently. Fajardo said people need to know their rights, and several state and federal laws are protecting renters during this time. Any tenant in San Antonio or Texas cannot be evicted without a court order, and eviction courts are closed until April 30 unless that moratorium is extended, Fajardo said. “That is generally all public housing, Section 8 housing, of (Housing and Urban Development),” Fajardo said. Help is in the works for those who live in San Antonio, according to District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino.