Housing advocates fearful of what will happen once eviction moratorium is lifted
13th September 2021 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
Although Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has extended the state’s eviction moratorium until Sept. 24, local housing advocates fear that many New Orleans residents still face a precarious housing situation, especially in the wake of Hurricane Ida’s devastation.
Maxwell Ciardullo, director of policy and communications for the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, said that as of last week, 174,000 Louisiana households still have a chance of being evicted once the extension of the moratorium ends on Sept. 24, and that 109,000 households could lose their rented homes within two months.
In all, Ciardullo said, 280,000 state residents have their housing situation hanging in the balance in the near future. He said thousands of people who evacuated because of Ida – which struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, causing widespread blackouts, infrastructure damage, food and gas shortages, and significant damage to many residents’ homes – shouldn’t have to worry about returning to New Orleans, only to find they’ve been booted from their homes.
Ciardullo added that his organization has had reports of some landlords defying the state eviction moratorium and putting people on the streets anyways.
“The thing I’m most worried about is the landlords who choose to illegally evict people,” he said. “I’m very concerned about people who went out of town [in advance of the hurricane] and are now trying to get back home, only to come back and find their possessions put out on the street.”
Edwards, a Democrat, announced the extension of the state eviction moratorium on Sept. 7, a move that was lauded by many, including Congressman Troy Carter, D-New Orleans.
“No one should face eviction after a disaster like Hurricane Ida,” Carter said in a press release. “Today’s action by Governor Edwards protects Louisianians in the middle of not one, but two crises facing our state.
“Hurricane Ida and COVID-19 have disrupted nearly every aspect of life in southeast Louisiana, and people should not face evictions on top of a natural disaster,” Carter added. “While this extension will be a lifeline to many who are focused on the daunting task of rebuilding from this storm, it can’t be the only support we provide to keep our residents housed. We must continue to cut through the red tape. We must get rental assistance funds out to support both Louisiana’s renters and those who depend on rent as their income.”
Ciardullo called the moratorium extension “a really important first step” toward stabilizing residents’ housing status, but he said further action and assistance are needed. “We can’t allow evictions to continue after the hurricane and amid the worst COVID-19 surge we’ve had, so we were glad to hear [about Edwards’ action],” he said.
In addition to the infrastructure damage of Hurricane Ida and the coronavirus surge, many Louisiana residents are also dealing with the end of pandemic-related unemployment benefits and tangling with the FEMA bureaucracy as they try to receive disaster assistance.
HousingNOLA executive director Andreanecia Morris said local officials, including those with the city of New Orleans and those in Baton Rouge, need to step up immediately and offer some assistance to the housing insecure, something she said those officials have consistently and coldly failed to do.
Morris said the extension of the state eviction moratorium helps in the immediate term but is basically a Band-Aid on the situation.
“We have a little bit more time, but not enough,” she said. “Our leaders need to get their act together and help people.”
Morris said many local residents are trapped in a perilous situation in terms of housing, with their near futures hanging in the balance with all the challenges they face, such as Ida damage, the COVID surge and the end of unemployment benefits.
“The system doesn’t have anyone who really understands people’s situation or knows how to deal with [the housing crisis] successfully,” she said. “Tell me you care about people, not just you’ll do your best, because it isn’t enough.”
Morris added that a city-wide rental registry is needed to keep track of renters, where they live and their housing status, something that is more than overdue. Hurricane Ida has shown that.
“This is the kind of thing a rental registry would have helped,” she said. “It would have told us who was where and what condition they’re in.”
Morris said local leaders need to show empathy for the city’s poor, especially poor people of color who often bear the brunt of economic crises, financial barriers and housing discrimination.
Legal help is available for local residents dealing with housing insecurity and imminent eviction, said Hannah Adams, a staff attorney for housing issues at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services. Adams said SLLS continues to try to inform residents about their housing rights, especially right now after the hurricane and as some landlords continue to evict renters despite the legality of such evictions.
“We’re worried about those landlords who are taking the law into their own hands,” she said, adding that overall and consistently, SLLS representatives “are always getting calls from people who are wrongfully evicted.”
Adams urged people who evacuated ahead of Ida to contact their landlords as soon as possible to update them about your situation and your plans to return, in order to avoid the type of confusion and misunderstanding that can snowball into a crisis situation. She said renters should try to document and get in writing all communications and interactions with their landlords.
She said some unscrupulous landlords might try to evade the state eviction moratorium by stopping utilities services or physically preventing renters from entering their homes.
“Plenty of landlords try to get around [the eviction ban] by shutting off people’s utilities or changing their locks or calling the sheriff,” she said. “If you do return [from evacuation] and find all your stuff on the curb, document as much as possible.”
Adams said residents who have been unfairly shut out of their homes can, if needed, take legal action against their landlords or lenders, and landlords who skirt or violate the law can face liability in the courts.
She added that SLLS can also help homeowners with their mortgage situation, as well as working with FEMA as residents try to receive federal disaster assistance or compensation.
“There’s definitely a number of ways we can help,” Adams said.
For more information about Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, go to www.slls.org or call (504) 529-1000.
This article originally published in the September 13, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
