Friends,
We are sending you an elbow, foot shake, or your Coronavirus-era greeting of choice! I’m writing to update on what we at Tzedek DC have been seeing and doing in the last week as this extraordinary and fluid public emergency has intensified. Below is a recap on:
The DC Courts, which, as we had urged, have suspended debt collection cases through May 1.
The emergency legislation passed yesterday by the DC Council, which includes key provisions to address the crisis of income reduction and debt facing so many vulnerable DC families.
Tzedek DC’s continued, full-time client work and updated remote intake processes during the public health emergency.
We welcome your input and are grateful for the broad community support for Tzedek DC and our client families, and we’re more determined than ever. I hope you and your loved ones are staying healthy and safe.
With gratitude,
Ariel Levinson-Waldman, Director, Tzedek DC
PS: Families with debt and credit-related concerns can continue to reach us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we remain available during business hours for intake by phone as well. We are hearing every day from residents who need help. If you are in a position to help us provide our ongoing services, thank you for considering, and donations can be made here.
1. DC Courts
The DC Superior Court is the central hub of our local DC justice system and has over 80,000 new filings per year. Following advocacy by Tzedek DC and allied groups, the Court on March 15 suspended, through at least May 1, all eviction and foreclosure proceedings and all non-emergency civil matters, including debt collection cases. This Washington City Paper article quotes Tzedek DC’s view that “[w]e appreciate the important, timely steps taken by Chief Judge Morin and the court to create these policies during this time of public emergency in non-emergency civil matters… It is especially critical during this time that vulnerable D.C. families’ limited resources be available for food, shelter, and key day-to-day necessities, including being with their children during the day. It would be unfair and harmful to public safety to force families to choose between their health and having to attend a civil court hearing while they seek to avoid further financial crisis.”
2. DC Council Emergency Legislation
Following input from Tzedek DC and several allied organizations, the Council of the District of Columbia yesterday enacted key initial emergency legislation to address the public health crisis. Among other things, the bill temporarily:
Prevents utilities from cutting off water, gas, electric, and other services, regardless of payment by the resident.
Provides key wage replacement and unemployment insurance protections.
Enhances public benefits.
Empowers the Mayor to extend professional licenses (e.g., an electrician’s or cosmetologist’s license) as well as driver’s licenses that would otherwise be expiring.
Prohibits price gouging and hoarding and provides enforcement authority to the DC Office of the Attorney General.
Empowers the Mayor to extend the period of emergency into April and beyond.
The Council’s recap and a text of the bill are available here. The Mayor has announced she will sign the bill.
We are closely reviewing additional steps the Council and Mayor may take, in conjunction with federal relief options. We will look at reforms that can address the immediate crises being experienced by residents during the public emergency period, as well as the likely challenges our client community will experience in the many months ahead.
These challenges are likely to be massive. Moody’s, for example, estimates that more than half of U.S. jobs are at risk from the pandemic.
Significant financial harms are already being felt directly by DC community members. As was reported yesterday, “[s]weeping rounds of layoffs have started to hit D.C.-area businesses in a wide range of sectors. The economic plunge has been widely felt, hitting the wedding industry, food and hospitality services, arts organizations, wellness companies, and many others.”
We are actively exploring a range of potential systemic solutions. For example, we will look at options for suspending consumer and student debt obligations, suspending adverse reporting to credit agencies, and reforming the DC Government’s so-called Clean Hands rule, under which any resident with $100 or more in outstanding fees or fines cannot renew her driver’s license (a particularly critical issue, now that public transportation has become riskier), or her professional license.
3. Our Updated Operating Status and Continued Client Work
Tzedek DC remains open full-time, responding to residents’ questions while meeting direct services needs remotely and through follow-up advocacy. For public health reasons, Tzedek DC stopped conducting in-person intakes last week and our staff lawyers are teleworking. Families with debt and credit-related concerns can continue to reach us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by email or via our website portal, and we remain available during business hours for intake by phone as well. We are hearing every day from residents who need help.