Louisiana landlords can go back to court to start eviction proceedings since the moratorium on eviction filings in Louisiana was lifted on June 8.
Navigating the legal system amid COVID-19 has left landlords confused while housing activists are concerned that many of the newly unemployed will be turned out of their homes. Advocates for tenants fear that with so many businesses closed and the normal tourist season in slowdown, many tenants will be unable to pay their rent.
Gov. John Bel Edwards issued an order in late March that blocked Louisiana courts from processing evictions during the COVID 19 shutdown. Courts are now accepting filings.
One courthouse on the east side of New Orleans had a line of landlords who came in to file, nola.com reported. Clerk of 1st City Court Austin Badon told nola.com that on a normal day, the court processes 25 eviction filings. On Tuesday, June 9, the first day that the court accepted filings after the moratorium was lifted, Badon said he processed 68 filings. That was not the case across the city or across the state. Most courts reported routine or even below routine numbers of filings.
Under the CARES Act, Congress’ emergency legislation to offset economic hardship due to the COVID 19 pandemic, landlords with federally-backed mortgages are not allowed to evict tenants until Aug. 24. Housing advocates believe that 75 percent of landlords have federally insured mortgages. The CARES Act also prevents landlords from evicting Section 8 tenants, because the Section 8 rent subsidy program is a federal program. Under the CARES Act, landlords are allowed to request moratoriums on mortgage payments.
Housing advocates have encouraged tenants to work with their landlords, requesting that landlords who get mortgage payment delays, pass that relief along to tenants. .
Some landlords are requesting evictions not because of non-payment of rent, but because of lease violations, Badon told nola.com. The moratorium prevented them from evicting “bad” tenants.
Eviction hearings were allowed to begin on June 11. Hannah Adams, an attorney at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, told nola.com that in some parishes, tenants only receive 24 hours of notice before they are turned out of their housing. She said that her office was getting a lot of calls. Some of the callers said that they have applied for unemployment compensation but have not received money for their claims.
Housing advocates told nola.com that they are hoping that the governor will extend the moratorium on evictions again.
A spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Department of Community Development told nola.com that they are trying to use federal grant money to assist some displaced workers. They did not know how many people their funding could help.