Eviction Moratorium - Landlord Forum thread 360945

Eviction Moratorium by Merritt on November 23, 2020 @11:51

There is a CDC Eviction Moratorium, covering the entire nation. I am a LL in Mississippi, and have a tenant hiding behind this. Went to court to evict, the court doesn't even vet these CDC forms - if the Tenant has signed the form, that's it, they're getting months of free rent, nothing the LL can do about it. Or that's what the judge told me. So, I can't evict her until January.

Here's the thing, though - there's NO VETTING of the form! So theoretically, EVERY SINGLE tenant I have could sign that form and turn it in to me. And stop paying their rent. So...what to do about this? I have a rental newly available right now - should I rent it out and risk the moratorium being extended and the new tenants potentially taking advantage of it? Or should I just sell the house? This is a REALLY BAD position to put the LL in, where you are dependent basically on the Tenant's good will to pay their rent and you can't evict for many months. What to do, how to handle this?

[ Reply ] [ Return to forum ]

Re: Eviction Moratorium by Garry on November 23, 2020 @13:43	[ Reply ]

You are right. This moratorium is thru out the whole country, and millions of tenants and landlords alike are effected by it. The moratorium is scheduled to end Dec.31, UNLESS it's extended by the federal govt. The only good news for us LLs, is that "supposedly" all Ts will need to pay all the back rent owed, even if that's 6 months worth of rent. Remember, 98% of those affected Ts don't want to lose their homes, anymore that you want to go to court and evict them. I have 2 Ts like that, that are in the same boat you and I are in. For now, ALL LLs will have to wait till Jan.1st to see what happens on the moratorium. Hopefully, most LLs have enough money behind them, to weather this thing out till Spring. And, NO, you do not need to sell your rental house right now. Wait at least till April, to see if you've collected any rent, if the T is still there, and what the market is for selling you place.

Re: Eviction Moratorium

Re: Eviction Moratorium by Merritt on November 23, 2020 @14:06	[ Reply ]

Re: Eviction Moratorium by Merritt on November 23, 2020 @14:06 Share\| The tenant may owe the back rent, but they will never pay it! They'll just move out, and I'll have to put in someone else and start all over (though my bills on the house definitely don't start over). It's straight up THEFT from me. I would like to know, how many tenants, percent-wise, are availing themselves of this. You said you have 2 tenants utilizing the moratorium...may I ask how many total active tenants you have? i.e., 2 out of how many? I have a total of 8 active tenants right now, and 1 of them is utilizing this thing. So for me, it's 12.5% of my tenants which are non-paying and using the moratorium. That's a large percentage!

Re: Eviction Moratorium by Merritt on November 23, 2020 @14:07	[ Reply ]

Also, what happens if, god forbid, this thing gets extended? Then what? Small landlords like myself will simply not be able to afford this!

Re: Eviction Moratorium

Re: Eviction Moratorium by stevethebeef on November 25, 2020 @15:48	[ Reply ]

Even at January, you might have to wait several months for the court get to your case. This whole mess is a pile of shts. If my tenant is indeed in need, I would gladly help. But they are simply gaming the situation and taking advantage of the tenant protection laws here.

Re: Eviction Moratorium