Concerns Mount as Pandemic Eviction Protections Expire

Kelly Avellino reports for NBC 12 about the potential consequences of the looming expiration of eviction protections in the state of Virginia. According to the article, rents and homebuying costs are exploding in the state—just in time for the eviction protections to expire. “Housing advocates fear this could lead to a spike in evictions in less than three months since landlords and property managers will have fewer barriers in filing eviction notices and taking people to court for non-payment,” according to Avellino.

In addition to the end of eviction protections, the state’s landlords “will no longer be required to apply for the Virginia Rent Relief Program on behalf of their tenants who can’t make payments,” reports Avellino.

The worst case scenario of an eviction tsunami so far hasn’t occurred in Virginia. “The latest data from the RVA Eviction Lab at VCU shows how evictions actually fell during the pandemic compared to 2019”—or the nation,” according to the article. The national story as largely the same, as documented in a recent article shared on Planetizen, but advocates and economists in states and cities where eviction protections have recently expired, or will soon expire, are warning that the worst could still be yet to come.