Link | Publication: Madeleine O’Neill, USA Today Network | Date: Dec. 26, 2020
Excerpt
A recent analysis by the consulting firm Stout estimated that between 100,000 and 200,000 Maryland renters are at risk of eviction. The total rent shortfall in Maryland could be between $206 million and $381 million by January, the report found.
Molly Hilligoss, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County, is worried about the “ripple effects” of the economic crisis.
Once a person enters the cycle of poverty, it can be difficult to break out, said Hilligoss, whose organization has been distributing rental assistance money on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
“When people are in a state of crisis, they don’t make good decisions,” she said. “You cannot plan for the future if you can’t pay your bills today.”
Halting evictions
In September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an eviction moratorium to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Congress extended the eviction moratorium until the end of January.
Maryland also has its own version of an eviction moratorium. Gov. Larry Hogan in March ordered that courts should not grant evictions if tenants could show a substantial loss of income from COVID-19.
Maryland’s eviction rule is tied to the COVID-19 state of emergency, which remains in place.
But the moratoriums do not actually block evictions, said Zafar Shah, a housing attorney with the Public Justice Center. They provide a legal defense that tenants can use in court — if they can convince a judge.
Shah said the moratoriums are “rarely” helpful to tenants, many of whom do not know that they need to appear in court and respond to eviction notices during the pandemic.
Some tenants Shah spoke to believed it was illegal to evict people at all during the pandemic. That’s not true.
Others believed, incorrectly, that all rent was being forgiven.
Even renters who come to court have to show that they’re eligible for pandemic protections. Landlords can scrutinize and question those claims before a judge.
“Where tenants have attempted to bring up these protections, even with counsel, it has been challenging,” Shah said. “I can’t speak for every legal service attorney, but I’ve seen a few of us and myself included have a challenging time raising these protections. … These have by no means been easy cases from an evidentiary standpoint.”
Ott said it has been difficult to predict what judges will do under the unusual circumstances of the pandemic. Some are sympathetic to renters, she said, while others tend to side with landlords.
“It’s almost like you’re rolling the dice,” Ott said. “Who you’re going to get when you’re going to court, and how this is going to end up, there’s just not a whole lot of rhyme or reason to it.”
Court shutdowns
The confusion surrounding the moratoriums means that the strongest protection for renters during the pandemic has come from court closures, Shah said.
Maryland courts currently are hearing only emergency eviction cases, such as when a renter poses a danger to other tenants.
The courts began processing some evictions in late July and heard failure-to-pay-rent cases from the end of August through November, when a surge in coronavirus cases forced the judiciary back into Phase II of its reopening plan.
In some cases, judges put cases on hold until a later date, such as after the CDC moratorium has expired, Shah said.
Judges are set to start processing more evictions again, beyond emergency petitions, on Jan. 15.
“Everyone should be very concerned and on high alert about the courts after Jan. 15,” Shah said.
Court data shows that eviction filings rose sharply in August, the full first month that Maryland courts began hearing eviction cases.
In September, when the courts reopened more fully, the number of filings rose again.
Though still well below the number of evictions filed in a normal year, the data raises concerns about what will happen as courts begin to reopen again, Shah said.
“Even if we’re seeing a much smaller volume of eviction, the consequence of eviction is so much greater now because of the pandemic,” he said. “The consequence of even a small amount of eviction is just magnified.”