With many residents are struggling to pay rent as a result of record-breaking unemployment claim filings during the coronavirus pandemic, a number of Greater Houston-area legal assistance organizations are providing their services to help tenants navigate the law.
According to Leesa Everitt, a staff lawyer at Houston Volunteer Lawyers, eviction-related court cases are often a tenant’s first encounter with the legal system.
“Even though evictions are 'simple' in Texas, I don't think they are for the tenant because it's an unfamiliar system, terminology, and process than what the ordinary tenant understands,” Everitt said. "Even if the landlord is not represented—and [many] are—the landlord or the leasing agent has still normally been to court multiple times, and they just understand the system.”
As previously reported by Community Impact Newspaper, the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act was signed into effect on March 27 to allow a temporary moratorium on evictions for federally backed housing through July 25. The 120-day moratorium temporarily prevents tenants from being evicted due to nonpayment of rent and applies to rental housing covered under the Violence Against Women Act, Section 8 housing, and low-income or public housing.
