Press Clips On Civil Legal Aid (2014 – early 2021)

Results

News Story (New York)

New York Bans Most Evictions as Tenants Struggle to Pay Rent

December 28, 2020 | New York Times (NYT)
The Legislature, addressing hardship caused by the pandemic, convened an unusual special session between Christmas and New Year’s to pass the measure.
Tags: COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
News Story (NATIONAL)

‘I have $4 to my name.’ An extended eviction ban isn’t enough for some struggling renters

December 28, 2020 | CNN Business
The stimulus bill that was signed into law by President Trump late Sunday night extends a national ban on evictions until January 31.
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
Feature, News Story (NATIONAL, Virginia, Wisconsin)

Trying to enjoy the holidays with eviction looming in the new year

December 25, 2020 | Washington Post
Weeks after pulling the eviction notice off her door, White was on the phone with an attorney from the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society. She recognized the voice. It belonged to Palmer Heenan. She had faced off against him in court proceedings he had brought against her property on behalf of residents. Now, she was ... Read more
Tags: Coronavirus | COVID-19 | Housing: Eviction | Unemployment
News Story (NATIONAL)

Struggling renters face avalanche of evictions without federal aid

December 25, 2020 | Washington Post
Landlords filed hundreds of thousands of eviction notices during the pandemic. The federal eviction ban expires Dec. 31.
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
News Story (NATIONAL, Ohio)

The federal eviction moratorium expires in January. It could leave 40 million Americans homeless.

December 24, 2020 | USA Today
“No one should ever have to experience the threat of being pushed out of their home,” [Shayla] Black said. “Especially in the middle of a pandemic.”
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
News Story (Louisiana, NATIONAL)

Eviction looms for millions, despite new federal aid package

December 23, 2020 | Stateline , St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Thirty-five percent of the households behind on rent or mortgages believe they will be evicted or foreclosed on in the next two months, according to the Census Bureau.
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
Investigative (NATIONAL)

Americans were told to stay home. Black women are most at risk of losing theirs.

December 21, 2020 | The 19th
Despite federal eviction moratoriums, Black women are most at risk of losing their housing during the pandemic.
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction | Racial Justice
Audio, News Story (NATIONAL, Texas)

Why The CDC Eviction Ban Isn’t Really A Ban: ‘I Have Nowhere To Go’

December 20, 2020 | National Public Radio (NPR)
“I have nowhere to go. I meet all the criteria for protection,” she wrote. “I have three kids who will be homeless tomorrow morning if I can’t stop this. This is wrong.” Tiffany Robinson, who lost her job managing construction sites in Texas, found out that what’s often referred to as the “CDC eviction ban” is ... Read more
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | Coronavirus | COVID-19 | Housing: Eviction
Op-Ed (NATIONAL)

Ensuring Safe, Stable Housing Should Be Top Priority For New Administration, Congress

December 18, 2020 | Forbes
Sarah Chamberlain, President and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership, argues that both the federal legislative and executive branches need to advocate for the right to counsel for tenants, and programs that provide free help to low-income tenants facing eviction offered by cities such as New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Minneapolis should be ... Read more
Tags: Coronavirus | COVID-19 | Housing: Eviction | Housing: Right to Counsel
News Story, Television News (NATIONAL)

With evictions ban expiring soon, new housing crisis could threaten minorities most

December 18, 2020 | CNN
A federal ban on evictions expires at the end of the year, and it's sparking fears of a housing crisis that could disproportionately send people of color out of their homes.

Audio, News Story (NATIONAL)

Evicted During the Pandemic

December 18, 2020 | New York Times (NYT)

Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
Column (NATIONAL)

Stimulus Checks to Come at the Unemployed’s Expense

December 17, 2020 | New York Magazine
The economic pain of the COVID recession is not universally dispersed, but rather, viciously concentrated on a (large) minority of the public. Why then, some analysts ask, should the disbursement of universal checks be a higher priority for progressives than robust aid to the unemployed?
Tags: COVID-19 | Unemployment | Unemployment Insurance
News Story (NATIONAL)

Landlords are running out of money. ‘We don’t get unemployment’

December 17, 2020 | CNN Business
"The government is putting property owners in a situation where they are supposed to be the back-stop," Howard said. "And many will say, 'I can no longer afford to be in this business.' "
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
News Story (NATIONAL, Nevada)

Falling Behind on Weekly Rent and Afraid of Being Evicted

December 17, 2020 | New York Times (NYT)
Residents of weekly rentals worry they will be kicked out if they can’t pay the rent. It’s unclear if the federal moratorium on evictions applies to them.
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
News Story (NATIONAL)

Whatever Congress does on stimulus, millions of workers are already screwed

December 16, 2020 | Vox
Even if there’s another stimulus bill, unemployed workers are likely to see a lapse in benefits.
Tags: COVID-19 | Unemployment | Unemployment Insurance
News Story (NATIONAL, New York)

‘The most lopsided economic event imaginable’: Wave of evictions threatens Black, Latino tenants

December 15, 2020 | Politico
Evictions could put more at risk for contracting COVID-19 by forcing people to move into cramped quarters — or out on the street.
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction | Racial Justice
News Story (Florida, Louisiana, NATIONAL, New Jersey, North Carolina, Wisconsin)

‘It’s terrible and no one cares’: millions at risk of eviction with no stimulus agreed

December 13, 2020 | Guardian
“What we’re figuring will happen is we’ll be served with the 48 hours’ notice to surrender the property, then store our belongings if we can,” said Nicole Strunk. “Then we’ll break our hearts by giving up our pup to a shelter, where he probably has no chance of survival due to his health issues, and ... Read more
Tags: Coronavirus | COVID-19 | Housing: Eviction | Unemployment
News Story (NATIONAL)

Jobless Benefits Saved Them, Until States Wanted the Money Back

December 11, 2020 | New York Times (NYT)
A pandemic relief program allows no forgiveness of overpayments, even when recipients are not at fault and the funds are already spent.
Tags: COVID-19 | Unemployment | Unemployment Insurance
News Story (Ohio)

Inside Franklin County’s evictions court, as ‘disaster’ looms

December 11, 2020 | Columbus Business First
Every morning, Robert Southers takes up a spot at a lectern-turned-information desk at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, now home to evictions court. It's usually 30 minutes or so before he's overwhelmed.
Tags: COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
Column (Louisiana)

The coronavirus took her mother. Now this woman, like millions of others, fears she’ll be evicted.

December 11, 2020 | Washington Post

Tags: Coronavirus | COVID-19 | Housing: Eviction
Op-Ed (NATIONAL)

CDC ban on evictions expires Dec. 31; Congress must act to prevent 30 million evictions

December 10, 2020 | Hill, The
Housing is undeniably a basic human need, and those who lose their homes often also lose employment, health, and child custody. Eviction is sometimes called a “scarlet E” because having one on your record can make finding safe and decent housing virtually impossible.Where there is a right, the government must provide funding for tenant counsel, ... Read more
Tags: Coronavirus | COVID-19 | Housing: Eviction
Television News (NATIONAL, Nebraska)

Millions of renters face eviction as moratorium expiration looms

December 10, 2020 | CNBC
The eviction moratorium is about to expire and that could leave millions of renters without a place to live on New Year’s Day. CNBC’s Diana Olick reports.
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
News Story (Minnesota)

Landlords go to court to fight Gov. Walz’s eviction moratorium

December 8, 2020 | Star-Tribune (Minneapolis)
Two apartment owners challenge the state order designed to curb virus.
Tags: COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
News Story (NATIONAL)

Millions of Americans are heading into the holidays unemployed and over $5,000 behind on rent

December 7, 2020 | Washington Post
Economists warn many unemployed families won’t be able to pay rent and utilities without more stimulus aid from Congress
Tags: COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
Op-Ed (California)

Op-Ed: L.A. County’s legal self-help services are used by 150,000 a year. Yet the program may be cut

December 2, 2020 | Los Angeles Times (LA Times)
A decline in sales tax and other revenues in the wake of COVID-19 has put Los Angeles county’s Self-Help Legal Access Centers on the chopping block, threatening to leave domestic violence survivors without the help they need to find safety and stability, and to throw the county’s most vulnerable tenants into homelessness. We cannot afford ... Read more
Tags: Pro Se/Self-Help
News Story (NATIONAL)

Millions may be getting shortchanged on unemployment benefits, GAO finds

November 30, 2020 | CNN
Millions of jobless people may not be receiving the full unemployment payments they are owed, a government watchdog report released Monday found.
Tags: COVID-19 | Unemployment | Unemployment Insurance
News Story (NATIONAL)

Evictions Have Led to 10,000 Additional COVID Deaths

November 30, 2020 | VICE News
With more state and federal eviction protections expiring soon, activists warn of more related COVID cases and deaths.
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
News Story (NATIONAL, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio)

Despite federal ban, renters still being evicted amid virus

November 29, 2020 | Associated Press (AP)
“Right now, we are seeing variations in the way courts are applying the CDC order, and we are also seeing a lack of knowledge among tenants and property owners,” said Emily Benfer, a law professor at Wake Forest University and the chair of the American Bar Association’s COVID-19 task force committee on evictions. “Advocates are ... Read more
Tags: Coronavirus | COVID-19 | Housing: Eviction
News Story (NATIONAL, Nebraska)

6 million American households could face eviction on January 1

November 25, 2020 | Fast Company
The CDC’s eviction moratorium expires on January 1. Even if the Biden administration has a plan to help renters, unless Trump acts there will be a 20-day gap when landlords can try to evict anyone who didn’t pay.
Tags: CDC Eviction Moratorium | COVID-19 | Housing | Housing: Eviction
News Story (NATIONAL)

US economy hurtles toward ‘COVID cliff’ with programs set to expire

November 22, 2020 | Hill, The
“It’s unconscionable. It’s like seeing a truck drive at people at 100 miles an hour and deciding not to do anything,” said John Pollock, coordinator of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel.
Tags: Coronavirus | COVID-19 | Housing: Eviction | Unemployment