Steve, his wife, and their children lived in a rented house before the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic hit, Steve and his wife both lost their jobs. Like so many families in this situation, they did their best to keep up. But with no income coming in, they got behind on their rent.
Their landlord eventually filed in court for an eviction, but the CDC moratorium prevented evictions based on non-payment of rent of qualifying tenants. Steve contacted Legal Aid for help in getting protected by the moratorium. The landlord filed a case based only on rent as both a rent and possession and an unlawful detainer case. The unlawful detainer could have proceeded during the moratorium.
Legal Aid successfully argued that this case was only based on rent and should be stalled by the moratorium, despite numerous attempts by the landlord to demand a trial be held during the moratorium. As the moratorium ended, Legal Aid was able to partner with the United Way to settle the entirety of Steve’s past due rent from September 2020 to August 2021. Steve and his family used this time to find a new place to live and stay safely housed through the pandemic.
