Houston mother reacts to moratorium on evictions due to COVID-19

Houston mother reacts to eviction moratorium

A Houston mother who was facing eviction reacts to the recent eviction moratorium from the CDC.

HOUSTON - Evictions are now on pause as the Coronavirus pandemic continues.

This week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that temporarily halts evictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a written statement from the White House we’re told, “Following an Executive Order by President Trump, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is using its authority to temporarily halt evictions through the end of 2020 in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19,” said the written statement. “Under the CDC Order, American renters who meet certain conditions cannot be evicted if they have affirmatively exhausted their best efforts to pay rent, seek Government rental assistance, and are likely to become homeless due to eviction.”

On Thursday, we interviewed Houston’s Sonja Lee. The single mother of two lost her restaurant job in March because of the pandemic.

According to Lee, she was unable to pay three months of rent and received an eviction notice from her apartment complex in August.

“It says, guess who’s moving, you are,” said Lee, reading the eviction notice. “I do understand landlords and tenants need to pay their bills as well. At the same time, we are in a pandemic.”

Lee was able to work out a solution with her apartment and now has a new job. However, she hopes this new executive order helps other families faced with similar eviction situations.

“A lot of people are experiencing financial hardship,” said Lee. “I hope and pray it will help a lot of other people that were in my situation.”

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For several weeks, Harris County constables have been tasked with following judge orders and serving eviction papers.

“We’re human beings and it’s tough,” said Pct. 1 Harris County Constable Alan Rosen. “It’s a tough time for our officers to serve evictions when so many people are suffering.”

The new moratorium issued by President Trump and the CDC now prevents evictions related to COVID-19. According to Constable Rosen, they stopped enforcing evictions on Thursday.

“We are happy there’s a moratorium,” said Rosen. “We’re not serving evictions right now. I do understand and recognize that your landlords are also under a tremendous amount of pressure from their lenders. It’s a delicate balance.”

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We’re told renters will still owe back their rent payments to their apartments following 2020.