BEAUMONT, Texas — The question of what will happen to renters is on many people’s minds as the federal eviction moratorium is set to expire Saturday, July 31, 2021.
The moratorium aims to keep people in their homes and out of crowded settings including homeless shelters to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s order first went into effect in September 2020 and was initially set to expire at the end of that year.
However, the moratorium was extended many times.
The original eviction ban was approved by lawmakers as part of a massive COVID-19 relief bill in March 2020. As one of President Joe Biden’s first acts in office, he ordered it be extended until March 31, 2021.
Last month, the Supreme Court allowed the order to stay in place until July 31, 2021 but said congressional action would be needed to extend it past that date.
This debate comes as rent prices have made a one percent increase since last year, according to the Census Bureau.
One viewer told 12News their rent is $190 a week and if they cannot pay it is an extra $45. Another viewer said in part that, “rent is outrageous. We can barely rent a house for $1,400 a month.”
The expiration comes as cases rise across the country, with the highly transmissible delta variant spreading quicker in areas with low vaccination rates.
“People who have rental property it can be a business it can be an individual, but all of those folks depend on the revenue that they get from rent to meet their expenses,” Paula O’Neal, Some Other Place executive director said. “Then it has also been difficult for those who have been negatively affected by COVID financially.”
O’Neal works with families and individuals facing a variety of challenges and said she is concerned with Saturday’s moratorium deadline.
“The moratorium has been a blessing for people during the pandemic who have lost their jobs, have had a reduction in hours and who have had to resort to drawing from unemployment,” O’Neal said.
Some Other Place offers a rental assistance program to Beaumont residents who can provide proof they were impacted by the pandemic.
“There are programs out there that are available to get renter's assistance,” O’Neal said. Some Other Place can pay up to three months’ rent with a limit of $3,000 according to O'Neal.
If the moratorium expires on Saturday, it can be a good thing for those who are not renters, O’Neal said.
“All of those folks depend on the revenue they get from rent to meet their expenses and to provide for their livelihood,” she said.
As a last-minute attempt, Democrats took the bill to the House floor Friday morning to ask for an extension of the eviction moratorium until the end of the year.
The fate of the bill in senate is unknown at this time.
President Biden is also urging states and local organizations to bump up their efforts to disburse emergency rental assistance funds.