Mom and her disabled son, three, face living in her car after 'landlord almost doubled rent to $800' as city dwellers flee to rural towns amid pandemic: Tenants left in limbo as CDC issues new eviction ban
The mother of a disabled three-year-old has told how they are facing living in her car after her landlord almost doubled her rent and then started eviction proceedings - before the CDC issued a new eviction ban.
An moratorium on residential evictions that kept millions of people from being forced out of their homes lapsed on Saturday, and the Biden administration scrambled to issue a new extension on Tuesday.
Before the extension was brought in, Sheryl Chavez, 39, says she was given 30 days to leave her home of eights years in rural Edenton, North Carolina, after her landlord decided to raise the rent from $450 a month to $825.
Chavez, a former Correctional Sergeant for Pasquotank Correctional Institution, says mass migration to the area from urban COVID-19 hotspots in the last 18 months has pushed up rental prices to unaffordable levels.
She shares the home with her friend, Lefein Noel, 29, and son Allister, 3, who was born with severe damage to his nervous system.
'I feel hurt and scared,' Chavez told DailyMail.com. 'I rented from this lady for 8 years only for her to slip a letter in my mailbox. I don't know where I'm going to go if I have to leave.
'To be evicted like it's not a big deal is very hurtful, and not because rent is owed, but just to cash in on the great housing market.
'Because of the housing shortage and the demand for homes, landlords all over this region are evicting their tenants and putting the houses up for sale at far greater than their value.'
Without being able to find affordable housing within the area, Chavez says she risks living out of her car with her son.
In Edenton, North Carolina, Sheryl Chavez, 39, (pictured) was given 30 days to leave her home of eights years, after her landlord decided to raise the rent from $450 a month to $825 unexpectedly.
Chavez, a former Correctional Sergeant for Pasquotank Correctional Institution, shares the home with her friend, Lefein Noel, 29, and son Allister, 3, (pictured) who was born with severe damage to his nervous system.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday extended the eviction moratorium for 60 days, a move that risks being challenged in court and one that President Joe Biden admits may not be constitutional.
CDC director Rochelle Walensky signed an order that determined the 'evictions of tenants for failure to make rent or housing payments could be detrimental to public health control measures' to slow the spread of COVID, the agency announced.
The order expands the eviction moratorium until October 3 and applies to counties 'experience substantial and high levels' of COVID transmission.
The order will allow more time 'to further increase vaccination rates,' the CDC said, calling it an 'effective public health measure.'
'This moratorium is the right thing to do to keep people in their homes and out of congregate settings where COVID-19 spreads,' Walensky said. 'Such mass evictions and the attendant public health consequences would be very difficult to reverse.'
It will cover about 90 per cent of renters in the country, White House officials said.
More than 15 million people live in households that owe as much as $20 billion to their landlords, according to the Aspen Institute.
As of July 5, roughly 3.6 million people in the U.S. said they faced eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau´s Household Pulse Survey.
It is not yet known if the new extension will cover Chavez and her family - or other tenants who found themselves in court facing eviction proceedings on Monday and Tuesday.
In Columbus, Ohio, Chelsea Rivera, 27, showed up at Franklin County court Monday, after receiving an eviction notice last month.
A single mom of three, Rivera is behind $2,988 in rent and late fees for the one- bedroom apartment she shares with her young sons.
Rivera told The Associated Press she started to struggle after her hours were cut in May at the Walmart warehouse where she worked.
She´s applied to numerous agencies for help but they´re either out of money, have a waiting list, or not able to help until clients end up in court with an eviction notice.
Rivera said she´s preparing herself mentally to move into a shelter with her children.
In Columbus, Ohio, Chelsea Rivera, 27, (pictured) showed up at Franklin County court Monday, after receiving an eviction notice last month. A single mom of three, Rivera is behind $2,988 in rent and late fees for the one- bedroom apartment she shares with her young sons.
'We just need help,' she told The Associated Press, fighting back tears. 'It´s just been really hard with everyday issues on top of worrying about where you´re going to live.'
In a different case, Luis Vertentes, 43, was told by a judge he had three weeks to clear out of his one-bedroom apartment in nearby East Providence.
Vertentes, a landscaper, said he was four months behind on rent after being hospitalized for a time.
'I'm going to be homeless, all because of this pandemic,' Vertentes told The Associated Press. 'I feel helpless, like I can´t do anything even though I work and I got a full-time job.'
In Miami, Florida, Antoinette Eleby, 42, expects an eviction order within weeks, after her landlord refused federal assistance to cover $5,000 in back rent.
She is sending her five children to live with her mother in another county.
'My main concern is that now that I have an eviction, how will I find another place? Some places will accept you and some will not,' said Eleby, whose entire family got COVID-19 earlier this year.
In a different case, Luis Vertentes, 43, (pictured) was told by a judge he had three weeks to clear out of his one-bedroom apartment in nearby East Providence.
President Joe Biden was under intense pressure from the liberal wing of his party to do something to help renters suffering under the pandemic. The White House had pushed the issue to Congress and the states after deciding a June Supreme Court ruling prevented additional executive action.
But Biden said Tuesday he had spoken to several constitutional scholars and will see if the new announcement will 'pass constitutional muster.'
'The bulk of the constitutional scholarship says that it's not likely to pass constitutional muster, number one. But there are several key scholars who think that it may, and it's worth the effort,' he said.
But, Biden noted, the order will 'probably give some additional time' for rental assistance funds to flow.
The Supreme Court would likely have to issue a new ruling on any new orders out of the CDC.
Biden said Tuesday he had spoken to several constitutional scholars and will see if the new announcement will 'pass constitutional muster.'
Distribution of rental assistance that Congress allocated in December and March has been painfully slow. The $47 billion Emergency Rental Assistance program has, to date, disbursed only $3 billion.
But Democrats expressed hope the new order would buy time for that money to flow.
'This brand new moratorium will provide time for the money allocated by Congress to flow, as it helps stop the spread of the virus which is worsening due to the delta variant and protects families and landlords,' Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
Homeless shelters were bracing for a surge of people due to the mortarium, adding more strain on local shelters, which already have their hands full helping thousands of homeless individuals.
'We've had lots of individuals who have come in and have come to us and said, 'I have never had to deal with this before. I don't even know where to start; I haven't had to ask for help,' Nicole Anderson, director of social services at Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, told 8 News Now.
The charity operates 16 programs, providing support to more than 4,200 people daily. They told 8 News Now they're prepared for the evictions.
'If we get an influx of people, we are ready,' Anderson said. 'And if it comes in small droves, then we are ready for that, as well.'
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