Saturday marks the end of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's federal eviction moratorium that was put in place last September to protect renters across the country who might have been facing financial hardships due to COVID-19.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 5, about 3.6 million people in the U.S. say they face eviction in the next two months.
“The moratorium is ending this Saturday and we don’t really know what that’s going to mean in terms of eviction court and how many cases we will see. It essentially means that there are no more federal protections for people to preclude their landlord from taking them to eviction court.”
As for Idaho, Ali Rabe, Executive Director of Jesse Tree, says that while the federal moratorium is ending, it was never really enforced here in Idaho.
“We don’t know that it made a huge difference here in Idaho,” Rabe said. “We have consistently seen 20 to 30 eviction court hearings every single week in Ada and Canyon County. We do imagine there are some landlords waiting in the wings who are afraid of the moratorium, don’t want to violate the moratorium, who will file come Saturday.”
Yesterday I sat down with @aliforidaho with @jessetreeidaho to talk about the CDC's eviction moratorium which ends this Saturday. The moratorium was put in place last September by the CDC and the Biden Administration will allow it to expire Saturday after many extensions. pic.twitter.com/9PUO9CASR7
— Nicole Camarda (@CamardaNicole) July 29, 2021
According to Eviction Lab, across a small population of 6 states and 31 cities, 451,772 evictions were filed during the pandemic.
“We are expecting a number of folks to file next week and do anticipate an uptick at least for a while,” Rabe said.
If you are struggling to pay rent in Idaho - there is help available. Multiple programs have rental assistance available for Idahoans in need. Here are some resources:
- Idaho Housing and Finance Association
- Boise City Ada County Housing Authority
- Ada County $12M for Emergency Rental Assistance
- Jesse Tree
- Our Path Home
“You know there are resources out there. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. We know that this can happen to pretty much anyone right now. We know that almost half of Ada County residents can't comeuppance with 400 dollars in an emergency,” Rabe said.
Evictions also have an effect on future opportunities to obtain housing or even a job. In Idaho, an eviction record is a public record and anyone can look it up and see it, and it will never be removed from your record.
