The director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky hopes that the end of the federal eviction moratorium for non-payment doesn’t result in a large influx of filings. But, Adrienne Bush admits she’s fearful there will be. The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday night blocked an eviction ban by the Biden administration. Bush said the ruling impact could come quickly in certain cases. “If somebody had a court date today and they had produced a CDC declaration saying that they were unable to pay their rent, it could be discarded by the court,” said Bush.
Bush said any landlord filings today could result in a hearing one day next week, based on court capacity. The housing advocate noted the most recent information shows about one in five Kentucky renting households behind in payments. Bush added the key to keeping families in housing is to get federal rental assistance in the hands of landlords and tenants in the coming weeks.
Bush said Kentucky has done better than some other states in getting rental assistance to landlords and tenants. She noted 19% of the federal money has been allocated. “We have enough money in Kentucky to take care of everybody’s back rent, and so therefore, we feel strongly that that is the process that should be used to make landlords and renters whole rather than the eviction court,” said Bush.
Bush said Congress should take action to reinstate a moratorium. And the housing advocate believes the court ruling demonstrates a weighing of property and business rights over public health and human rights.
