LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The nationwide ban on evictions is extended again, and tenants are getting pulled in all sorts of directions trying to figure out if they're at risk of losing their homes.
As of July 31, tenants thought they were at risk of eviction as the moratorium ended. On Aug. 3, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an extension through Oct. 3.
Experts said even if you do get a notice on your door, don't panic. It's a pretty lengthy process before you'd actually get kicked out.
"I don't think anybody was really expecting it to be renewed or continued, because I think the White House had indicated they weren't going to renew it," said Stewart Pope, advocacy director for The Legal Aid Society.
He's been helping tenants in Louisville since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"People are very concerned and worried about losing their housing," Pope said. "It's important to get people early, because people will self-evict. They'll get the notice that an eviction's being filed and they'll just move."
The initial piece of paper that gets posted on the door is a pre-filing notice. He said it could take 30 days for an actual court date to show up. Then, it could be another six weeks before a decision is made.
"It's a long process, so a tenant should not move immediately or," Pope said. "Sometimes, people will just move and move into their car or something like that, and that's not the thing to do. It's a long process. There is assistance out there, and they should apply for it."
He said the back and forth with the moratorium isn't just confusing tenants.
"The CDC has been set to expire five or six times, and it's always at the last day or the day before it's set to expire that it got extended," Pope said. "It just makes everything questionable."
It's questionable, he said, because the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled the CDC does not have the authority to issue that order. He's hoping Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear issues an executive order to clarify.
"The Sixth Circuit that made that ruling was based on Tennessee law, so it's not binding in Kentucky," Pope said. "But it's persuasive authority, so it would be really strong authority if we were to litigate it and it went to court here."
Ultimately, if you're worried about anything at all, The Legal Aid Society will be able to help you. Lawyers there can be reached at 502-584-1254.
More resources can be found here.
Copyright 2021 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
