Do you have questions about eviction, rental assistance in Middle GA? What to know
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Last year as the coronavirus took hold in the U.S., the CDC issued an eviction moratorium, an effort designed to keep folks in their homes so they could quarantine, isolate and social distance.
That moratorium expired last month, but the agency issued a new one which was supposed to run through early October in an effort to give tenants and landlords time to receive rent relief.
However, the new eviction moratorium was cut short by the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday in a ruling that means tens of thousands of tenants could lose their homes.
The process to access rental assistance is often difficult, adding complexity to an eviction process already mired in red tape.
If you’re facing eviction in Middle Georgia, here’s what you need to know about the end to the moratorium, how to access relief money and what to bring to an eviction hearing in magistrate court:
1. What happened to the CDC eviction moratorium?
The ban is gone.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the CDC did not have the authority to issue a federal eviction moratorium, according to the New York Times.
“The C.D.C. has imposed a nationwide moratorium on evictions in reliance on a decades-old statute that authorizes it to implement measures like fumigation and pest extermination,” the eight-page majority opinion said. “It strains credulity to believe that this statute grants the C.D.C. the sweeping authority that it asserts.”
The order continued to say that a federally imposed eviction moratorium must be authorized by Congress. The three dissenting judges criticized the court’s quick decision amid a health crisis.
Unless Congress passes a new federal eviction moratorium or state and local governments pass local protections, tenants are subject to eviction.
2. How does a tenant apply for the Georgia Rental Assistance program?
Mills said the first step is visiting georgiarentalassistance.ga.gov and starting an application.
An application has to be submitted by the tenant and the landlord for assistance to be granted, and there are stipulations on who can receive assistance: tenants must be behind on their rent, meet income requirements and demonstrate their nonpayment is due to the pandemic, Mills said.
“My best course of action and advice to individuals is don’t second guess it. Apply,” he said. “There are instances where individuals thought they may not have qualified, but in truth, especially through our navigators and their knowledge of what it takes to be eligible, they’ve been able to identify, ‘Hey, actually, you do qualify. Here’s why you should apply.’ And so, I would definitely recommend anyone who’s thinking about that, apply.”
The process moves much smoother if both the tenant and the landlord are involved and committed to the process.
“In those instances where we’ve been able to have landlords who say, ‘Okay, yes, let’s do the program. Here’s the information,’... the process has moved fast, and those tenants and the landlords have received that assistance. Where you have landlords who don’t quite understand it, or they are skeptical of it, it obviously moves slower,” he said.
3. What resources are available for people facing eviction?
People who are looking for assistance can call 2-1-1, the United Way of Central Georgia’s hotline that connects people to local nonprofits and organizations that can help. People can also text their ZIP code and “need” to 898-211.
Here is a list of organizations that can help people facing eviction.
Georgia Legal Services Program
Phone: 1-833-457-7529
Website: www.glsp.org
Family Advancement Ministries
Phone: 478-745-7165
Website: www.familyadvancementministries.org
Macon-Bibb Economic Opportunity Council
Phone: 478-738-3240
Website: www.maconbibbeoc.com
If anyone knows of other organizations that can help people facing eviction, please email reporter Jenna Eason at jeason@macon.com to add them to the list.
4. What should a person take with them to eviction court?
If a person is heading to eviction court, they should take any type of evidence that could prove the tenant should not be evicted, Shannon Mills said.
Here’s a list of possible evidence to present to the judge:
Lease agreement
Receipts from paying rent
CDC Eviction Protection Declaration
Pictures and videos of repair issues
Text messages and emails from a landlord
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 12:21 PM.
