Just weeks before more than 1,500 of Richmond’s public housing residents were facing losing their homes, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority has extended its eviction moratorium to September, but not beyond Oct. 31.

The decision was announced last week, days after the RRHA Board of Commissioners announced a temporary halt to its search for a new chief executive officer and an outside review of the organization.

RRHA officials cited a federal moratorium on enforcement actions because of nonpayment among the reasons for the extension.

During the extended eviction freeze, RRHA plans to reach out to residents with outstanding payments or rent agreements. Property managers will be “going door to door in an attempt to talk to those who are behind” and offer support services or encourage them to apply for rent assistance, according to an RRHA statement.

Property managers also have instituted special hours on Saturday, July 31, and Saturday, Aug. 14, for meetings with RRHA families to discuss accounts.

Housing advocates applauded the extension while they challenged RRHA to take further action to ensure tenants can maintain their housing. The Legal Aid Justice Center asked RRHA to apply directly for rental assistance for qualifying families through the state’s Rent Relief Program, re-analyze the accounts of tenants with outstanding balances to make sure all charges are correct, or forgive these debts entirely if the other options don’t work.

“Legal Aid Justice Center is encouraged by RRHA’s decision to extend the nonpayment eviction moratorium for its residents to fall of 2021, but asks that RRHA go further,” the group said in a statement. “We do not believe that many families fell behind because of individual choices but, more likely, they were unable to pay their rent because of systemic problems in our housing system.”

Meanwhile, the RRHA board announced July 13 that it has suspended its search for a new chief executive officer as it conducts a full review of the organization and its operations.

The pause comes after months of efforts and discussions to replace former CEO Damon E. Duncan, who announced his resignation in March 2020 after less than a year on the job.

Stacey Daniels-Fayson, who has been serving as interim executive director since June 2020, will continue in that role, the board stated.

Ms. Daniels-Fayson is the fourth CEO in as many years.

The board cited a period of self-reflection, spurred by feedback from RRHA residents, as a major prompt for its decision.

“We must first look inward to develop a clearer picture of the organization itself and then build a profile of the next executive who can lead RRHA through very challenging work,” the board’s statement read.

According to the board, the review will be outsourced.

“We will contract with an outside company to evaluate and assess all the functions, policies and procedures of RRHA,” the board said in a statement. “As Commissioners, we feel that we owe this to our residents, our staff and the community as part of our commitment to serving Richmond.”