The rate of evictions is returning back to what it was pre-COVID-19, and many of those who were unable to pay rent during the pandemic still have no means to make money.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, in some parts of the U.S., the amount of filings for landlord and tenant cases is now the same as it was before COVID-19.
READ MORE: Viral TikTok video shows landlord taking tenant’s packages until rent is paid
Last Friday, the Cleveland based bank reported that eviction filings in 44 cities and counties were greatly reduced in the early days of the pandemic thanks in part to legal allowances that protected renters.
Now that eviction freezes across the country are beginning to expire, research shows that filings are coming back, according to Reuters.
“As of July 7, roughly one-third of rental units in our study are no longer covered by temporary policies, and eviction filings have now returned to their pre-pandemic levels in those places no longer covered,” the researchers wrote, Reuters reported.
Eviction fillings are low in areas that still have eviction on hold.
The situation is also bad for those unemployed due to COVID-19. A reported tens of millions of people face the expiration of their supplementary unemployment benefits through the CARES Act program.
This act provided an extra $600 to the unemployed and it expires at the end of July. Unemployed people may still qualify for standard unemployment.
“In addition to expiring eviction bans, renter households face expiring supplemental unemployment benefits offered through the CARES Act in spite of a still-elevated unemployment rate, a situation which further raises the risk of eviction for households impacted by the crisis,” the researchers said in their report.
READ MORE: Millions face eviction this month as rent protections expire
As theGrio previously reported, the coronavirus pandemic is more than a public health crisis – it’s an economic crisis for many families that were already struggling. To help ease those burdens, many major U.S. cities instituted moratoriums on evictions through July 31.
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