Mother of five homeless after losing eviction fight against Richmond public housing: 'I felt so alone'

RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond's public housing authority has temporarily stopped eviction proceedings following an outcry from some city leaders and advocates who expressed concerns about an increase in eviction filings in recent months.

Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) responded in part by implementing what it called a new and improved compassion-driven campaign to keep as many families housed as possible.

RRHA also initiated a re-review of all cases in which tenants were at risk of eviction to investigate the accuracy of rent calculations.

Federal regulators cited RRHA with rent calculation errors in a recent audit and said they wanted to ensure they weren't "displacing people that shouldn't be displaced."

But before the eviction freeze, RRHA said at least 13 evictions were already executed this year, and at least 58 judgments were entered against tenants.

One of those residents shared their experience with CBS 6.

She's a mother currently living in a hotel with her five children.

She asked us to keep her identity hidden, citing concerns that her children would be bullied if it was known that they were homeless.

"It's very stressful," she told CBS 6 reporter Tyler Layne during an interview in her hotel room. "I'm paying for the hotel day for day, really struggling trying to figure out how we are going to do this."

She said she barely scrapes up enough money to pay the nightly rates, put food on the table, and handle other needs.

Constant Fear, Constant Worry

The thought of being unable to shelter her kids is always present.

"It's constantly fears. It's constantly worries. It's crying. Like I have to step out of the room to go down into the lobby because I don't want to shed so many tears in front of my children," she said.

But it wasn't always this way.

She was a resident of RRHA's Gilpin Court until she was evicted in January.

She's kept a substantial stack of documents related to her case and provided them to CBS 6 for this story.

According to the documentation, the problems began in May 2023 when the tenant received a 72-hour notice that RRHA would be terminating her lease "due to criminal or willful act."

The reason RRHA cited said: "On or about May 18, 2023, your juvenile son robbed someone on RRHA property with a gun."

"When she came to my home that morning and said I had 72 hours to go, I told her, 'Well, I'm not going to go. I'm going to take this to court,'" the mother recalled.

Court records revealed her son was arrested and charged with robbery and using a firearm to commit a felony.

But two months later, in July, the Richmond Commonwealth Attorney's Office nolle prossed the charges, meaning the charges were essentially dismissed but could be brought back later.

"Wasn't found guilty at all, no evidence at all," the mother said. "But I still was considered in lease violation."

When CBS 6 inquired about what evidence did or did not exist in the case, RRHA spokesperson Angela Fountain would only say they received information about the alleged incident from a third-party.

Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Colette McEachin said she could not comment since cases in juvenile court are closed to the public. But the juvenile's public defender Julia Snyder said there was no physical evidence.

Snyder said the case relied upon an accusation from one young witness. However, she said that the witness, who was also the alleged victim, did not show up in court for the hearing, leading prosecutors to let the charges go.

Despite that outcome, RRHA moved forward with the eviction process.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty?

The housing authority's lease states a criminal conviction is not required to enforce a violation of illegal or criminal activity. Rather, the lease states RRHA will use a "preponderance of the evidence standard."

Tracey Hardney-Scott, the housing chair of the Richmond NAACP, worked directly on this family's case to attempt to prevent eviction. She raised concerns about this part of RRHA's lease.

"You are innocent until proven guilty," Hardney-Scott said. "I am really afraid for anybody, not just RRHA, that has the authority to override what the law actually says. That's really, really concerning, because then that leaves anything up to one person or two persons’ interpretation.”

According to the mother's summons for unlawful detainer, her hearing was initially scheduled for June 28, 2023, but it was continued to November 16.

In the meantime, issues persisted.

In August, her ledger showed that RRHA raised her monthly rent by more than $100.

It was adjusted from $246 to $350, despite the tenant claiming she did not report a change in income.

"I couldn't even explain to you why," she said. "There was no explanations."

Fountain did not specifically answer CBS 6's questions about why RRHA raised the resident's rent in the midst of eviction proceedings. But she said generally, adjustments are due to a change in income, required corrections, pro-rating, or application of late fees.

According to the tenant's ledger, she was also charged an unlawful detainer fee, excessive electric charges, work order charges, and late fees during this time.

The mother admitted she fell behind on her payments, and in September, she received another notice of lease termination. This time, for nonpayment of rent.

"I just didn't have it at the time because I only have one income," the mother said. Her source of income, she said, was disability.

In November, the mother applied for financial assistance from RRHA's nonprofit partner Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME). According to emails she provided to CBS 6, HOME indicated it would be sending her an outline of how much they could help cover.

But two days later, HOME said it was declining her from the program "due to a lease violation" and directed her to contact her leasing office for further details.

When her court date arrived about a week later, she said RRHA brought her son's accuser to testify about the alleged criminal offense that had been previously adjudicated in criminal court.

The judge ruled in favor of the housing authority, and the mother received a judgment of over $2,000.

The mother requested a rehear, an appeal, and a grievance hearing. All efforts were unsuccessful.

As a looming eviction became more evident, she contacted Hardney-Scott for help.

"So then at that point, I reached out to the authority to see if there was anything that we can do to prevent this family from being evicted, especially because being evicted from public housing, where could this family go?" Hardney-Scott said.

In late December, Hardney-Scott sent an email to RRHA requesting a meeting.

Hardney-Scott said in the email that the "circumstances surrounding this case are compelling" and she wanted to come to the table to seek a "fair and compassionate resolution."

In early January, Hardney-Scott received a response from RRHA Senior Vice President Kenyatta Green saying, "I have been in communication with the family regarding the specifics and next steps of this eviction proceeding."

Hardney-Scott told CBS 6 she was disappointed in the response.

"I honestly think that more diligence should have been done," Hardney-Scott said.

"I Still Ended Up in the Street"

On January 9, the family was forced out.

The mother said her family was evicted earlier than expected because RRHA closed its office due to the weather.

"It was raining. I mean, the weather was bad," she recalled.

CBS 6 confirmed there were storms in the area that day, and Hardney-Scott said that's one of the reasons that compelled her to pay for the family to stay in a hotel.

Since then, her family has remained in hotels with hopes of one day getting back to stable housing.

RRHA declined an interview, but in a statement, Fountain said the housing authority "stands by EVERY case of lease enforcement that has been performed over the years."

But this mother felt the odds were stacked against her, especially since she had no legal representation while fighting the eviction in court.

"I felt alone. I felt that I knew for a fact I wasn't going to win, because it was just me. It was hard. It was very hard. But I was going to fight until I couldn't fight anymore. And that's what I did even though I had to do it alone. I did it. And I still ended up in the street," the mother said with tears in her eyes.

While Fountain said it's RRHA's policy not to discuss specific residents, she said the housing authority has several rights as a landlord to enforce a lease including when a tenant fails to pay rent and when a tenant or others living in a unit has complaints of criminal activity or willful acts that endanger the safety of the community.

At the time of the mother's eviction, her ledger showed she owed almost $1,900.

Before the eviction freeze was announced in April, RRHA CEO Steven Nesmith said they were only focusing on tenants whose outstanding balances were the most egregious. He cited residents whose debt climbed into the tens of thousands of dollars.

When asked whether this tenant's balance fell into an egregious category, Fountain said, "Yes."

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