Eviction is expected to skyrocket as protections expire

President Donald Trump said earlier this month that he did not want people to be fired during the pandemic and that his executive action “will solve that problem for the most part, hopefully completely.”

Experts disagreed, as the president directed only federal agencies to consider measures to prevent evictions.

Now, the Department of Housing and Urban Development says it will extend a ban on evictions in single-family homes with mortgages issued by the Federal Housing Administration, Politico reported this week. Indeed, that protection would be far narrower than the now defunct eviction moratorium in the CARES law, which also included properties backed by government-sponsored lenders Fannie May and Freddie Mac, and was rumored to be nearly a third of the land leasing companies.

“The new HUD moratorium applies only to a small fraction of the units under CARES law and does nothing to protect the overwhelming majority of tenants in the United States from eviction and its devastating consequences,” Emily said. Benfer, an exhibition expert and associate professor of law at Wake Forest University.

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Will Fischer, senior director of housing policy and research at The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, said the ban “would help little to no tenants.”

“If we do not see expansion of moratoriums and rental assistance, there is a real risk that we will see a sharp increase in eviction,” Fischer said.

It remains to be seen if deeper protections are announced or if Congress strikes a deal on another incentive package that could expand relief for tenants.

But time is running out.

The federal eviction moratorium in the CARES Act expired at the end of July, and because it requires tenants in protected properties to be notified of their eviction for 30 days, proceedings could begin as early as next week, Eric Dunn said , director of litigation at the National Project for Housing Law.

“Landlords are just waiting,” he said.

Leaving Americans even more vulnerable is the fact that the $ 600 weekly federal impulse of unemployment expired at the end of July and Democrats and Republicans have been unable to reach a compromise on what to replace it with. Now, unemployed Americans only have the advantage of being able to trust, which can be as little as $ 5 or $ 15 per week.

Up to 40 million Americans may lose their homes in this downturn, four times the amount seen during the Great Recession. More than 1 in 5 tenants were left behind in July. Some states will be hit particularly hard: Nearly 60% of tenants in West Virginia are at risk of eviction, compared to 22% in Vermont.

At the same time that federal protections against eviction are ending, many states that have paused their own procedures have now been allowed to resume. Since July 15, eviction moratoriums have expired in Michigan, Maryland, Maine and Indiana.

“It’s going to be chaos,” Dunn said.

Alexis Erkert, a lawyer at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, can attest to that. Since the moratorium was defeated in her state in June, she said, “our withdrawal from eviction is three times what it was last year this time.” She currently handles about 100 cases.

Ronda Farve fell back on her hair after she was fired from her job as chef at a restaurant in New Orleans in March. Her landlord tries to blame the single mother and her two children.

She said she feels it when she is punished for something beyond her control.

“If I have it, I’ll pay for it,” said Farve, 29. “This is the roof over my children’s head.”

In some states where evictions are allowed to continue, some counties, cities, and towns have issued their own disclosure agreements.

However, a patchwork of protections is ineffective in keeping people in their homes during a pandemic, housing lawyers say.

For example, although Texas resident Jennifer Baird would have to be protected by moratoriums issued by Travis County and the City of Austin, her landlord moved to evict her this month. The statewide ban on eviction in Texas ended in May.

“It’s extremely scary,” said Baird, 37. Her income as a dog sitter and broker has skyrocketed, and now she worries about living in a shelter and using public restrooms during the pandemic.

“At least in my house, I can protect myself,” Baird said. “When I’m away, I do not know what I’m dealing with that could endanger my health.

Baird’s case proves why Congress needs to come up with a nationwide solution to the upcoming eviction crisis in the U.S., said Keegan Warren-Clem, attorney manager at the Texas Legal Services Center.

“Currently, there are protections for eviction pieces, and concerned landlords can try to apply state laws that are in line with public health practices to obtain local laws that prioritize public health,” Warren-Clem said.

And even in states where there are moratoriums on eviction, the protections differ.

For example, Arizona has a moratorium in place until October 31, but it only prevents the execution of evictions, as the final step in which a tenant is forced to leave their home. Meanwhile, landlords can still file the lawsuits in court, and more than 9,000 have already done so in Phoenix alone, according to The Eviction Lab. (Tenants must also prove that their non-payment is due to a pandemic-related severity.)

“If the moratorium is lifted, it’s just a matter of time until the sheriff puts families on the streets,” Benfer said.

This week, the United Nations is urging countries to let people stay in their homes throughout the crisis.

“Temporary ties in many countries have ended or are coming to an end, and this raises serious concerns that a tsunami of evictions could follow,” said Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing, in a statement.

He cut no words: “Losing your home during this pandemic could mean you lose your life.”