Warnock’s Church Evicts Poor Tenants While Subsidizing His Housing

Raphael Warnock’s church attempted to evict residents of an apartment building it owns for owing as little as $25 in unpaid rent or paying their bills just one day late. Some of the eviction notices were served at the height of the pandemic. The apartments, which shelter homeless people and those afflicted with mental disabilities, received $15 million in state and federal funds since 2005 to keep disadvantaged people housed.

Washington Free Beacon: A dozen eviction lawsuits were filed against Columbia Tower residents over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, the first one in February 2020 and, most recently, in September 2022. The total sum of past-due rent cited in the lawsuits is just $4,900, a figure that could have been covered by one of Warnock’s monthly housing stipends from the church. . .

Columbia Tower residents, who told the Free Beacon they were unaware that Ebenezer Baptist Church owns their building, described living under the rule of landlords who don’t hesitate to go to court to evict them and their neighbors, even if they’re just a few days short on rent.

Raphael Warnock’s Republican opponent, Herschel Walker, has volunteered to pay back rent for anyone facing eviction in Warnock’s church’s building.

The evictions also brought attention to Warnock’s personal finances. In 2021, Warnock and his church used a loophole in a rule designed to prevent most outside employment to pay Warnock an $89,000 “housing stipend.” And during his first year in the Senate, Warnock more than doubled his reported income to more than $530,000. Warnock has also used campaign dollars to pay for personal expenses including legal fees and childcare.

Additionally, entities linked to Warnock and his church have received tax dollars from bills he voted for in the Senate.

Bottom Line: One month of Raphael Warnock’s bloated housing stipend — that “far exceeds” the cost of his home — would more than pay the back rent of tenants his church served eviction notices.