MORGANTOWN — Landlords in the city of Morgantown can now be fined for evicting tenants who can demonstrate financial hardship due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
During a special meeting prior to Tuesday’s regular council session, Morgantown City passed an emergency ordinance stating that such an eviction can be deemed a public nuisance and a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 for each day a landlord remains in violation.
According to the emergency ordinance, a tenant must deliver written notice of hardship identifying, among other things, a substantial loss of income, termination and medical expenses — with supporting documentation — within 30 days of due payment.
Nothing in the ordinance relieves the tenant of the obligation to pay rent nor the landlord’s ability to recover rent from the tenant.
Because evictions are not carried out in municipal court, city council has no real authority to stop them from proceeding.
“Eviction proceedings are processed through the magistrate court, which is part of the state court system. This ordinance measure is not targeted a stopping the courts from processing those, but directs property owners, in certain instances, not to proceed with instituting those actions,” City Attorney Ryan Simonton said.
The emergency ordinance also suspends regular rental inspections and extends letters of compliance issued between March 12 and Dec. 31, 2020 through February 28, 2021.
The ordinance does not suspend complaint-based inspections.
A portion of the emergency ordinance suspending municipal utility shutoffs was tabled.
When council convened into regular session, the ongoing situation with the Diamond Village homeless encampment dominated the meeting. Nearly 20 public speakers addressed the record and another 17 emails were read onto the record.
Since February, a homeless encampment known as Diamond Village had been permitted on private property in lower Greenmont, off Pennsylvania Avenue. However, notice posted by the property owner set July 18 as the deadline for the land to be cleared.
On that date, 20 or so residents of the camp set up on city property and said they intend to stay there until the city works with them to create a permanent solution.
The overwhelming majority of the speakers and correspondence hit repeated talking points, including:
- Council should put discussion of the Diamond Village issue on its July 28 committee of the whole agenda
- Any discussions or committees formed to determine what’s to be done with the camp should include representatives from the camp
- The CDC guidance for homeless encampments is to leave them as is during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the speakers was a handful of Diamond Village residents, including Delbert Lemley, who echoed a popular refrain from Tuesday’s shared comments — we have a right to exist.
“Where were supposed to go? What were we supposed to do,” Lemley asked. “We’re ‘those people,’ we’re ‘them.’ We’re being set apart and I don’t think that’s fair. We’re all in this together. It’s an epidemic.”
Also on Tuesday, council:
- Approved a budget amendment reflecting $3,020,000 in CARES Act funding received for March, April and May. The majority of those funds ($2.9 million) will be placed in the city’s contingency fund, which had dwindled to just over $600,000.
“With the unknowns of the coming months, it’s important to have contingency funds available,” Interim City Manager Emily Muzzarelli said. - Approved the creation of crosswalk supporting Black Lives Matter at Arch and Green streets.
The cross walk will be completed by city staff using city funds. A price for the project was not provided.
Design of the crosswalk is still to be determined.
