NEW ORLEANS – After three months of uncollected rent and mortgages for many residents in Louisiana, payments have become due as soon as this week.  

“My biggest fear is being homeless! I don’t see a future and I’m scared – I’m scared, actually and I’m a brave person!” New Orleans renter, Ingrid Lucia told WGNO this afternoon.

Eviction notices could go out as soon as Monday morning because the Statewide Suspension of Evictions has officially ended in Louisiana. 

“There are those folks who are gonna be protected until August 26th because they live in a property that is covered by federally backed mortgage or there is some sort of federal dollars tied up in that property,” Executive Director of Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, Cashauna Hill said.

That’s known as the “CARES Act.” New Orleans residents like Ingrid aren’t protected by this law because their homes don’t involve federal dollars. As a musician, she says she’s concerned because jobs won’t be available to her until phase three. 

“At this point, there’s absolutely nothing known as to what’s gonna happen to create an economy,” Lucia shared.

Ms. Hill says, she’s hoping that Louisiana landlords can work with their tenants and take eviction completely off the table.

“[I hope they can] negotiate with their landlords on an individual basis and hope that they do have a landlord that will partner with them,” Hill told us. “There are opportunities and options for rental assistance at the state and at the city level, but Louisiana and New Orleans have not yet set those programs up.”

The Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center says, a “boom” of evictions could spike coronavirus cases because of crowded court rooms which defeats the purpose of closing the city down in March. 

“We really need to think about whether we want to be the kind of city and the kind of state that forces people into homelessness for keeping themselves and us all safe,” Hill shared.