REPORT: Houston Residents Facing Double the Number of Evictions Since the Pandemic Began

Although the CDC is looking to halt evictions for American citizens who qualified for the coronavirus stimulus bill and whose ability to pay rent is directly impacted by the pandemic, CNN reporter Kyung Lah exposed that many people in Houston are still facing economic hardship, leading to the loss of their homes.

Lah noted that roughly 40 million Americans are facing eviction as the U.S. economy continues to struggle amid the coronavirus outbreak, including Israel Rodriguez, who admitted he has not been paying rent and is behind thousands of dollars.

“It’s my fault in the eviction. It was a lot going on. When it hit, I lost my job,” Rodriguez told Lah. “It took me like a month to get another job. This is my check, but I ain’t making it with $300. It’s literally $300.”

Deputy Bennie Gant with The Harris County Constable’s Office, who is executing a judge’s orders to evict, explained to Lah how dire the situation is and revealed that he is visiting eight families today to share the bad news.

“As Deputy Gant works through his list, we get word that 200 eviction orders have come through the Harris County courts for this week,” Lah said. “That’s double what they normally saw for an entire month before Covid.”

Lah also spoke to a distressed mover, who broke down in tears while removing a tenant’s belongings from her home, explaining that he’s scared his family will be next.

Speaking to CNN’s John Berman, Lah noted that the CDC guidelines regarding their halt on evictions are unclear and confusing for many tenants.

“Here’s the view from Harris County, the constable’s office here has immediately put a hold on everything as local municipalities try to figure out exactly what does this mean,” Lah added. “Are there going to be challenges in court? What does this mean if there’s a state authority that steps in, like an attorney general?”

She noted that the rights of landlords are also unclear right now, as they have an increasingly large amount of money to pay.

“Then it’s a question of, who do you evict. Some people won’t be evictable if they make a certain income or if they have or have not filled out the right paperwork, she added. “It’s very confusing, on the side of the tenants. What tenants are saying, this is nice and all, but there’s no rent forgiveness, this is simply kicking the can down the road on January 1st, if they haven’t kept up, there’s going to be a tremendous bill due for a lot of people, the very same people you’ve heard about in this story, John.”

Watch above, via CNN.