Content categorized as Eviction

The eviction bans are ending. Here’s how rental assistance can help people stay in their homes.

Professor Carolyn Gallaher writes on what the end of COVID-19 eviction bans means and how other programs could fill the gap for those in need of assistance.

Protests, occupations, and “takebacks” of unused public housing: Activists notch wins with militant tactics

Spurred by deepening housing, homelessness and gentrification crises, a nationwide wave of militant housing activism is growing as its successes go viral.

DC Council says no to pressuring tenants to apply for rental assistance by threatening eviction

The D.C. Council voted down a controversial measure last week that would have allowed landlords to resume sending eviction notices during the pandemic, opting instead to revisit the proposal at a later date.

My biggest challenge

Artist and vendor Sheila White shares her greatest personal struggle and her concern that many others in the area will be affected by homelessness once pandemic-related eviction prohibitions expire.

Tech issues hobble US tenants fighting eviction in remote hearings

As legal proceedings shift online, many of the most vulnerable are left without the tools they need to show up in court. These problems, legal aid workers say, are affecting eviction hearings across the US.

DC judge rules against eviction moratorium, but the law is still disputed 

A district court judge ruled against the CDC’s eviction moratorium, but the final outcome remains uncertain.

Overloaded with landlords and real-estate developers, Bowser’s “Saving DC’s Rental Housing Market Strike Force” leaves out marginalized tenant voices

Tenant voices were conspicuously absent from the deliberation on recommendations that will affect the District’s most vulnerable renters’ ability to remain housed through the end of the pandemic and long after.

Tenants at Marbury Plaza renew a decade-old rent strike as COVID-19 exacerbates a history of neglect

The D.C. Tenants Union partnered with tenant leaders at Marbury Plaza in Southeast D.C. to organize a rent strike and push the landlord and city government for repairs and rental relief.

Protesters call for Biden’s domestic policy chief to cancel rent

Tenants from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia marched to the home of White House domestic policy chief Susan Rice on Jan. 23 and called on the Biden administration to include rent cancelation in the latest COVID-19 relief package proposal

CDC extends national eviction moratorium through March

The CDC ruled that no evictions can take place until the end of March, noting that sending people into shelters increases the rate of spread of COVID-19.

DC attorney general sues to uphold ban on filing eviction complaints during pandemic

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine is suing to uphold a D.C. Council bill invalidating all evictions until the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Nobody should become homeless during a pandemic. Here’s what to do if it happens anyway.

Paula Dyan, a former social worker with homelessness experience, shares about resources to help those at risk of becoming homeless during the pandemic.

D.C. Superior Court rules eviction protections unconstitutional

The D.C. Superior Court ruled legislation that gives protections to tenants facing eviction is unconstitutional, violating property owners rights.

“The system is failing all the families that really need it”: How the threat of eviction has perpetuated health inequity and racial injustice during the pandemic

Worries about eviction during the pandemic disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic renters, widening the racial wealth gap.

Eviction moratorium to extend as COVID-19 and unemployment worsens homelessness

D.C. Council gives the Mayor authority to extend the state of emergency, thus extend the eviction moratorium. But COVID-19 and unemployment remain issues.

Opportunity to pass permanent eviction record-sealing bill fades as need continues to grow

The DC Council has not yet passed a permanent bill to seal eviction records for tenants in the District.

Three bills to protect renters get a hearing this week

D.C. Council has passed a number of temporary and emergency bills to protect renters during the pandemic. Now it is considering permanent protections.

Council acts to seal eviction records and tamp down on serial eviction filing

The D.C. Council passed emergency legislation last week that provides for eviction records to be sealed after 30 days when eviction is not granted, and after three years when a tenant is evicted. The legislation is part of a package to limit the long term impacts of eviction, which limits the use of prior evictions for landlords deciding whether to rent to tenants and calls for the fee to file an eviction with the court to be raised.

Of DC’s 24 at-large candidates, who has a specific plan to address homelessness?

A Street Sense Media analysis determined that only six of the 24 at-large DC Council candidates on the ballot advertised specific plans with measurable goals to address homelessness in their online platforms. We sent them five questions about local poverty.

For District residents who can’t make rent, aid is still available

Three rental assistance programs, the Emergency Rental Assistance Program the COVID-19 Housing Assistance Program and the DHCD Rental Assistance program still have funds available for tenants. With these funds, as well as further action, the District hopes to prevent an eviction surge post-pandemic.