“On January 25, 2023, Governor Ned Lamont and Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno announced that the Department of Housing is launching a new fund to assist renters who are on the verge of being evicted from their homes due to owing past due rent. Utilizing $12.5 million in funding from UniteCT and the Rent Bank, the Eviction Prevention Fund will provide households with up to $5,000 to pay off past due rent with their current landlord. To apply, tenants must call UniteCT…and be screened for eligibility. Eligible applicants will receive direct assistance from a local UniteCT Resource Center, where they will complete the application. If a tenant requires, but does not have legal representation, access to mediators at Quinnipiac University’s Center on Dispute Resolution will be provided.”
The Center on Dispute Resolution launched a Homelessness Mitigation Mediation Program in February 2021, with funding from the CT Dept. of Housing In January 2022, DOH extended the Center’s contract to provide statewide mediation services under the renamed Homeless Prevention Program (HPP). Brendan Holt, a Quinnipiac law professor and Mediation Clinic director is the program’s Executive Director. HPP mediation staff also include Associate Director L'Enchantel "Berta" Holmes, former eviction and foreclosure prevention program manager at Community Mediation Inc. in New Haven and Hamden; and Senior Mediation Fellow, Diana Lamb. Attorney Lamb joined the staff soon after her graduation from QUSL in 2021 with concentrations in Civil Advocacy & Dispute Resolution and Family Law.