Eviction Citations will Have to Inform Renters How to Apply for Protection
The Texas Supreme Court ordered that eviction citations will have to inform renters about the moratorium requirements and include the form needed to apply for protection.
Texas courts must start telling tenants how a federal eviction moratorium can keep them housed
"Texas courts must start telling tenants how a federal eviction moratorium can keep them housed" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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Texans facing eviction must be informed in court citations about how they can remain housed under a national eviction moratorium, the Texas Supreme Court ordered Thursday. The measure clarified aspects that housing lawyers said were unclear after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its moratorium on evictions this month.
“Now you will be notified when you are served by the constable that you have this right,” said Fred Fuchs, housing attorney with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. “For folks that don’t know about this, now they will. It’s absolutely critical that the court took this step. It will ensure to promote public health during this pandemic, because it prevents evictions and keeps people housed.”
Before the court's order, housing advocates expressed concerns that tenants wouldn’t know about the moratorium and its requirements, including that they had give their landlord a signed declaration that the eviction would leave them homeless. It also wasn’t clear if justices of peace could be proactive and educate tenants about the protections.
"Before, you had to print this piece of paper and sign it," said Becky Moseley, staff attorney at Legal Aid Northwest Texas. "This puts the declaration in the tenants' hands, and that's huge. We are very thankful for that."
To be protected by the moratorium, tenants have to declare that they have searched for rental assistance, and they cannot earn more than than $99,000 in annual income in 2020 or $198,000 if filing a joint return, among other requirements. Under the declaration, tenants also agree that they will pay rent eventually, as well as fees and penalties according to their leases or agreements with their landlords. This declaration has to be presented to the landlord and the judge.
Housing advocates and housing lawyers applauded the CDC eviction moratorium, which stops evictions for anyone who signs this declaration until the end of the year, when it was announced, but many pointed out gray areas and loopholes. It was unclear, for example, if cases that started before the publication of the moratorium would be covered and even whether the CDC had authority to issue such an order. On Sept. 9, the Texas Justice Court Training Center provided guidance for justices of peace, but advocates said that tenants still had trouble benefiting from the moratorium.
“I’ve watched 60 cases, maybe more, but I’ve only seen one successful use of the CDC moratorium,” said Zoe Middleton, Southeast Texas co-director with the advocacy group Texas Housers, on Thursday. She was monitoring hearings prior to the publication of the Supreme Court order.
In most cases, tenants weren't present or they didn't know of the declaration.
“The moratorium is not consistently applied, and this makes it difficult to understand for people,” she said.
Housing lawyers also explained that there wasn’t clarity about whether the moratorium should prevent an eviction that has been granted, but the order for the constable to actually evict a person — the writ of possession — hasn’t been issued.
“We saw a case or two in the Valley when the writ of possession had already been issued and they were set to execution by the constable,” Fuchs said. “With this order of the Supreme Court, it makes it very clear that the court must abate these situations.”
The Texas Supreme Court order also allows landlords to contest the declarations of their tenants.
Fuchs warned that although the order is good news for tenants, they will still have to pay rent eventually, many times with added late fees. He is concerned that if there is no action from the federal government on rental assistance, a wave of evictions will start happening once the moratorium lifts in January.
“Now is the time as a tenant to be proactive on getting rental assistance and try to pay as much as possible,” Fuchs said. “And is also the time for Congress to provide rental assistance to the folks that need it.”
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/18/texas-federal-eviction-moratorium/.
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Millions of Texans Could be Shielded From Evictions
A previous federal order, which only protected renters in federally backed housing, expired in July.
Millions of Texans could be shielded from evictions under new Trump administration order
"Millions of Texans could be shielded from evictions under new Trump administration order" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
The federal government announced a nationwide eviction moratorium Tuesday that is designed to protect renters from losing their homes until the end of the year. The order could keep millions of Texans from being evicted.
Housing advocates had been calling for such broad protections since the start of the pandemic. A previous measure, which expired in July, only stopped evictions in homes that were backed by federal loans.
The new order, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and set to be published Friday, says that COVID-19 is a “historic threat to public health” and that eviction moratoriums can facilitate quarantining.
“I want to make it unmistakably clear that I’m protecting people from evictions,” President Donald Trump said in a White House press release.
In Texas, advocates for renters applauded the order but said more protections are needed, and representatives for landlords expressed concern about its potential impact on their businesses.
Rent, typically one of the largest items in any household’s budget, has become one of the top worries of Texans who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19. According to a survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, 39% of renters in Texas weren’t certain they could pay their rent in August. Most eviction moratoriums enacted during the pandemic’s initial blow to the economy have expired.
A provision included in the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act expired in late July. But that measure only delayed evictions for tenants in federally backed housing. The new order from the CDC is more extensive, protecting most renters who expect to earn no more than $99,000 in annual income in 2020, or $198,000 if filing a joint return.
“The prior moratorium that Congress adopted only covered tenants in certain federally backed properties. Less than half of renters were covered by the prior protection,” said Heather K. Way, director of the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic at the University of Texas Austin. “This order covers all renters that meet an additional criteria. There are no limits in terms of the type of housing.”
Tenants will have to provide declarations to their landlords stating that they meet all the requirements in the order, including that they fall within the income limit and that they tried to get any available government assistance for rent or housing. They will also have to state that they have been unable to pay rent due to loss of income, work or health expenses, and that they might be at risk of homelessness or doubling up if they are evicted.
Finally, renters will have to state that they are using their “best efforts” to pay rent on time. Tenants can face criminal charges for false statements in their documents.
“This applies to most tenants. They should begin communication with their landlords to enjoy their protections under this order,” said Zoe Middleton, Southeast Texas director of the advocacy organization Texas Housers. Middleton added that it is important to know that this order is not automatic and that it doesn’t allow people to stop paying rent.
There are no statewide numbers on evictions, but data from The Eviction Lab, a research center based at Princeton University, shows that they have increased in cities like Houston and Fort Worth since local and national moratoriums ended. An exception is Austin, where justices of peace have agreed to not hear these kinds of cases. Yet evictions remain below pre-pandemic levels despite the fact that 3.3 million Texans have applied for unemployment. Researchers said that the stimulus checks, unemployment benefits and rent assistance programs have helped.
Housing advocates also warned that more action is needed, including rent relief.
“This action delays but does not prevent evictions. Congress and the White House must get back to work on negotiations to enact a COVID-19 relief bill with at least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance,” Diane Yentel, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, told The Washington Post.
Both legal experts and landlord representatives also stated other concerns about the new order.
“There’s a lot of subjective criteria that could be used against renters that are trying to utilize this order,” Way said. “For example, they have to show they used their best efforts to get any rental assistance that is available, but what does that mean?”
David Mintz, vice president of government affairs for the Texas Apartment Association, said that the organization is still analyzing the order and that evictions are always a last resort.
“How all the details work out and what it means in real life is something that we are going to have to see,” Mintz said.
Mintz added that it is yet to be seen the impact the order will have on landlords, especially owners with fewer properties, who are “already working on smaller margins” and “still have to pay their bills, their employees, their taxes.”
“The real focus needs to be on making sure we have robust rental assistance programs for renters in need,” Mintz said.
Disclosure: David Mintz and the University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/01/evictions-trump-order/.
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Undocumented Immigrants are Self-Evicting Across Texas
Without money to pay rent, facing pressures from landlords and afraid of courts, people without legal immigration status have limited options.
Undocumented immigrants behind on their rent are self-evicting across Texas
"Undocumented immigrants behind on their rent are self-evicting across Texas" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
The coronavirus pandemic pushed María and her family from a small two-bedroom apartment in southeast Houston into homelessness in less than a month. Her boss cut her hours in a clothing warehouse in mid-March as business slowed. Without enough money to pay rent, she packed her belongings and found another place to live even though there was a statewide moratorium on evictions.
“When I couldn’t find how to pay, I just had to leave,” said María, 47, who is an undocumented immigrant. “I didn’t want to be in debt, and I couldn’t go to court.”
María asked that she be identified by a pseudonym out of fear that immigration authorities could seek to deport her.
On paper, an undocumented tenant has the same rights as anyone else during the eviction process. But housing attorneys and tenant and immigration advocates say undocumented immigrants are frequently hesitant to exercise those options. Their fear of the legal system and lack of access to government-funded financial help prompt many to self-evict, or prematurely leave the property. And as a result, many turn to a network of nonprofits and religious organizations accustomed to helping vulnerable people who keep the Texas economy humming. But those groups say their ability to assist is being stressed by the many people who were swiftly left without work due to the coronavirus pandemic's economic wallop.
Zoe Middleton is the Houston and Southeast Texas co-director at Texas Housers, an affordable-housing advocacy group. She said that because Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are allowed in courthouses, undocumented renters avoid going inside these buildings out of fear of being deported. There have been cases in Texas in which undocumented immigrants were arrested in courthouses while appearing for cases unrelated to immigration.
“I think the fear that concerns most of the undocumented tenants that I’ve spoken to is that somehow the [eviction judges] will collude with ICE or that their documentation status will be used against them by their landlord even if they try to remain on the property,” she said. “So they choose to leave the property so they don’t risk detention and deportation.”
Many renters in Texas found temporary relief in eviction moratoriums, federal pandemic relief payments, unemployment checks and rental assistance programs. Undocumented migrants, though, either don’t qualify for such aid or are afraid that merely seeking it will alert immigration authorities to their presence in a country whose president has called some immigrants “animals,” makes racist remarks and consistently tries to create barriers for migrants.
In many of Texas’ largest counties, evictions in June were lower than they were for the same month last year. In Harris County, where María lives, eviction filings were down about 67%. Local moratoriums, rent assistance programs and other government aid have helped renters stay afloat for the time being. Still, housing advocates forecast a historical increase in evictions statewide due to the unprecedented unemployment COVID-19 swiftly spurred.
But tenants who decide to leave a home on their own, or self-evict, many times don’t even get to the point at which an eviction is filed, so there’s no record of how many people, like María, pursue this route.
“When it comes to eviction, a verbal threat of eviction or lock-out may result in an undocumented person packing up and leaving immediately,” said Sandy Rollins, executive director of the Texas Tenants’ Union, a housing advocacy group. “This could be due to the lack of understanding of their rights, but it could also be from fear of engaging with courts in order to stand up for their rights.”
“We want to do more”
Linley Boone-Almaguer, an attorney with the nonprofit Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, said that widespread job loss has compounded tenants’ anxieties during the eviction process. And immigrants have been more affected by this year’s historic unemployment than U.S.-born workers, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center.
“There’s a lot of home health care aides. There’s a lot of people like certified nursing assistants, housekeepers, day cares, people — both documented and undocumented — that work in the service industry,” Boone-Almaguer said. “And so many of those people lost their jobs completely or lost hours, or they work at the flea market selling things, so there’s so many jobs like that, where people lost their very, already very limited income. And so you have seen evictions spiking during the COVID period.”
In these cases, many undocumented immigrants rely on their community and avoid seeking assistance from the government or nonprofits. But if they do reach out for benefits like rent assistance, they face language barriers.
“When they want to ask for help from a nonprofit, and the staff only speaks English, they feel intimidated and don’t want to go on,” said Adriana Godines, a volunteer for Dallas Area Interfaith, a community group made up of religious congregations, schools and other nonprofits. “Even if I tell them that there will be no problem and they won’t ask for your Social Security, they prefer not to [ask for help].”
And even people who go to the justice of the peace courts, where eviction cases are heard, face similar hurdles.
“A lot of JP courts won’t have bilingual speakers,” said Lizbeth Parra-Davila, a housing fellow at the University of Texas School of Law. “Throughout Texas, that has been the case where I’ll call JP courts and they’ll say, ‘Yeah, we don’t have any Spanish speakers. We don’t have any Spanish interpreters.’”
Many undocumented people have been counting on their families, friends and churches.
Godines has seen homes with 12 people living together as people who self-evict move in with loved ones.
“It’s people of all ages. Kids, adults, sometimes senior citizens,” she said.
Godines has worked with families searching for rental assistance, and she said that funds are running low among nonprofit organizations that are allowed to serve undocumented immigrants.
“We want to do more, but we don’t have more resources,” Godines said. “But the little that we have in this community, we give it.”
Auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas explained that many priests and churchgoers have pooled together resources to pay for rent and food for undocumented migrants. But he, too, worries how long such resources will last.
“I don’t think we know yet how serious this is or how long it will last. When the city assistance program opened, the help available was overwhelmed in the first couple of hours,” Kelly said. “It could be a very lengthy situation. There’s so much uncertainty.”
Ready to work
As María was planning to move out, she heard that a Christian pastor nearby was willing to let her live in a small apartment in the back of his church. She let her kids sleep on the king-sized bed there, and she took a small couch. They had to share the kitchen with the church staff and churchgoers.
“Sometimes we wouldn’t eat until everyone left the church,” María said.
She was grateful, but also sometimes uncomfortable.
“My way of thanking them was cleaning the church,” she said.
After almost three months there, she was asked to leave. A relative of the pastor was also having trouble paying rent and was going to use the apartment. María told the pastor not to worry, that she was going to find a solution.
“Even before the pandemic, things were tough in our community,” said Josephine Lee, an organizer with the workers’ group El Pueblo Primero, which has been trying to help María. “People were living check to check. This pandemic basically made it where it was completely unbearable. People call us saying that most of them haven’t paid a month [of rent], but half of those haven’t paid for two or more months.”
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After having her working hours cut, María decided to self-evict. Undocumented immigrants, such as María, are frequently afraid of the legal system. Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune
María now lives apart from her family, though she still regularly sees her kids, who moved in with her ex-husband. She has been staying with a friend, trying to save some money to find a new place. But jobs are still hard to come by.
She has managed to pick up work cleaning homes here and there, but not much more than that. And finding financial help is out of the question: Undocumented workers are not eligible for stimulus checks, and they can’t apply for unemployment benefits.
“I don’t have papers, but I file my taxes every year,” said María, who uses an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number provided by the Internal Revenue Service, as do many other undocumented workers who don’t have Social Security numbers.
According to the IRS, ITIN users paid more than $23.6 billion in taxes in 2015. In Texas, undocumented immigrants contributed $1.5 billion in local and state taxes, a 2017 study found.
María’s older daughter, who is a citizen and lost her job at a mall, applied for state unemployment benefits.
“But she tried and tried, and the website never worked,” María said. “If that would have worked out, we might have been fine.”
In Houston, María has appreciated the help from her community, but she said she’s also ready to work. She hoped to get back to work at the clothing warehouse this week, but she never heard back from her former boss. Now she’s applying to work in a plastics factory. Her goal is to save up for a car, to be able to access more jobs, and to have a steady paycheck to get a new home.
“Now I don’t have furniture, I don’t have beds to sleep. We only have clothes and our personal stuff,” she said. “But at the end, that’s not the most important. What you really want is a place to be quiet, no matter if you have to sleep or eat on the floor. The important thing is to have a place of peace, to be with your kids.”
Disclosure: The University of Texas System has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/22/evictions-texas-undocumented-immigrants/.
The Texas Tribune is proud to celebrate 10 years of exceptional journalism for an exceptional state. Explore the next 10 years with us.