The COVID-19 epidemic in the United States has not improved at all, and the unemployment rate remains high, causing a large number of renters to be unable to pay rent on time.
Despite the previous order of the U.S. federal government to “prohibit the eviction of tenants”, many tenants are still evicted by landlords. And with the “tenant eviction ban” to expire on the 31st of this month, more people may be wandering on the streets.
Amanda’s husband contracted COVID-19 last year and lost his job.
The family has been unable to pay rent ever since. Two days before New Year’s Eve, Amanda received an expulsion order, and then all their belongings were thrown on the roadside.
Homeless Amanda: My husband got COVID-19 and then lost his job. Now that these are going to be received in the warehouse, we no longer have these, I don’t know where to go now.
Margaret and her husband were evicted from their original residence in early December last year, and now they have to barely survive in the car. Although they have been trying to find new places to live, they have repeatedly encountered obstacles.
Real Estate Agent: I’m sorry, when we checked your court records, we learned that you had been eviction, so we can’t rent a house for you.
Homeless Margaret: She said that if you look up the court records, the eviction record will be displayed. So can’t help us, every real estate company we go to is like this.
At present, there are many people in the United States who have encountered such as Amanda and Margaret.
In fact, in the early days of the outbreak of the epidemic in the United States, the federal government issued an “eviction ban” to protect tenants, which has been extended to the 31st of this month with the introduction of the second round of the rescue bill in late December last year. However, this ban does not take effect automatically.
Tenants need to voluntarily declare and the procedures are complicated, resulting in many people not receiving the protection they deserve. A large number of poor people lack access to information and are unable to even submit applications online. In addition, some local courts do not recognize the “eviction injunction” issued by the federal government. Some tenants have received expulsion orders from the police despite completing the application for protection process.
Real estate lawyer Chiara: The ban issued by the federal government is indeed superficial to some extent. The ban can only take effect if the tenant fully understands the content of the bill and actively practices his rights.
There are many tenants now who are not aware of the ban on evictions and do not know that if they want to be protected by the ban, they must submit the application form in advance. In many cases, tenants also need to hire lawyers to help analyze whether they are eligible to apply.
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