RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Evictions are continuing in Virginia despite a nationwide moratorium by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Washington Post reported Monday that evictions are still happening because of loopholes and misinformation.
Palmer Heenan, an attorney with the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, said more than 11,000 eviction judgments were made in the state between September and December of last year.
The CDC eviction moratorium applies only to failure-to-pay-rent cases.
And it requires tenants to fill out a declaration form. That puts the onus on a tenant who might be uninformed about the options.
“Part of the problem with the protection as it currently exists is that they require an invocation by the tenant,” Heenan said. “The tenant has to know about the protections. They have to print out and sign a declaration. And they have to bring it to the landlord.”
Another problem is that the moratorium applies only to failure-to-pay-rent cases and not other causes of eviction.
Housing experts say that more landlords are finding other reasons to evict someone, such as a noise complaint or a lease expiring.