BATON ROUGE, La. (WVLA/WGMB) – Many are breathing a sigh of relief after President Joe Biden once again extends the nationwide ban on evictions.
This extra month is crucial in keeping a roof over many families’ heads, but it’s bad news for mom and pop landlords who are already at the end of their rope.
Anna Joseph, Owner of Lanes Holdings, is a single mom and her income comes from 10 homes she rents out, but now thanks to the extension of the eviction moratorium, she is going into debt. One of her tenants has not been able to pay rent in months because of the pandemic.
“To be exact, she owes $20,614,” said Joseph. “You know, you pay yourself when you are self-employed, I haven’t paid myself.”
Right now, she’s using credit cards to support her family, she even had to sell one of her properties just to make ends meet.
“I’ve kind of given up in a sense, and I’ve realized that I’m not ever going to receive any of that money so I had to sell the house,” said Joseph.
This extension is not only affecting her, it’s also impacting her tenants.
“Unfortunately I had to move one of my other tenants out of a home and put it up for sale in order to not default on my mortgage,” shared Joseph.
Those who rely on the eviction moratorium will have to pay back the rent. There’s also federal relief set aside to help clear the debt, but Joseph says it’s taking too long.
“They are not doing it fast enough, or they don’t really look into us,” said Joseph. “We are kind of like the bottom feeders in a sense, right, we are just the little guys.”
The new deadline for the eviction moratorium is in July. Joseph said when it runs out she will have to make some tough decisions.
“I don’t expect her to just, like, move out, so I will be evicting her through the court system,” said Joseph.
The Biden administration as well as the CDC said that this is the last time the moratorium will be extended.