Tenant advocates fear ‘tsunami of evictions’ in DC

Losing a job and looking for a new one during the pandemic is a struggle that many D.C. residents are currently facing. When paychecks do not come in, many are finding it difficult, if not impossible, to stay current on rent.

That fact has tenant advocates worried about what will come when the freeze on evictions in the city ends.

“We know this is going to be a big issue,” said Johanna Shreve, chief tenant advocate of the D.C. Office of the Tenant Advocate.

Shreve said that until the city declared a public emergency, which put a moratorium on evictions, there were around 2,000 eviction filings making their way through the courts. Those eviction cases will continue once the city’s public emergency order ends.

Shreve said in addition to those cases, an influx of new eviction actions are also expected.

“It’s not just people who are very low income. We’re talking about the working poor; we’re talking about young professionals — everyone that’s been impacted by this pandemic,” Shreve said.

Given the option by the city council, Mayor Muriel Bowser can extend the public emergency order through early October.

On Tuesday, Bowser indicated that she intends to do that, but right now the order is set to expire July 24.

“We’re mostly just bracing ourselves to see what will happen. We will do everything that we can to help,” said attorney Neil Satterlund, who’s with the D.C. Tenant’s Right Center. The center provides legal assistance to renters.

Once the order ends, evictions already filed can take place, though not right away. The U.S. Marshals Service executes evictions in D.C., and Robert Brandt, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal for D.C. Superior Court, said tenants need to first be given at least 21 days’ notice that an eviction is imminent.

Brandt said the volume of cases could also stretch out the days before the eviction is executed.

Also, any notification given before evictions were paused for the pandemic will not count.

“We will also instruct landlords, when we reschedule, that they need to repeat the full notice procedure,” Brandt said.

Satterlund believes that without actions from the city to help renters who are struggling, there could be a “tsunami of evictions” once filings resume.

“Tenants who aren’t paying their rent now probably aren’t suddenly going to have months and months of back rent to pay,” Satterlund said.

Satterlund would like to see city lawmakers put more money toward the D.C. Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which provides cash assistance for tenants who cannot pay their full rents.

Shreve also supports a subsidy program that helps struggling tenants and landlords, especially small landlords who depend on rents to maintain properties.

“That way the tenant is in whole, the tenant doesn’t have to move, and the landlord receives what he needs to service his debt,” Shreve said.

New eviction filings will be accepted at courts 60 days after the public emergency order expires.

“They need at least four months, before they’ve gotten some of their bills paid, their back bills,” Shreve said.

Shreve is pushing the city council to require landlords to wait 120 days after the date evictions can resume to be able to file for an eviction.

Elsewhere in the region, Virginia allowed eviction cases to begin again June 29. Landlords who have federally-backed loans may not file until an eviction moratorium — which is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act — expires July 24.

In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan’s order, which prohibits eviction proceedings from happening, remains in place.

More Coronavirus News

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.