How Nebraska, Iowa Might Fare Once Evictions Rev Up
A freeze on most evictions that was enacted last year is scheduled to expire July 31, after the Biden administration extended it by a month.
The moratorium, put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, has been the only tool keeping millions of tenants in their homes. Many of them lost jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and have fallen months behind on their rent.
Landlords successfully challenged the order in court, arguing that they also had bills to pay. They pointed out that tenants could access more than $45 billion in federal money set aside to help pay rents and related expenses.
Advocates for tenants say the distribution of the money has been slow and that more time is needed to distribute it and repay landlords. Without an extension, they feared a spike in evictions and lawsuits seeking to boot out tenants who are behind on their rent.
As of June 7, roughly 3.2 million people in the U.S. said they would face eviction within the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. The survey measures the social and economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic every two weeks through online responses from a representative sample of U.S. households.
Here’s the situation in Nebraska and Iowa:
What’s the Status of Eviction Moratoriums?
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts temporarily banned evictions for 2 ½ months near the start of the pandemic, before the CDC moratorium was in place. Ricketts’ order expired at the end of May 2020.
Iowa’s state ban on evictions expired in May 2020 as Gov. Kim Reynolds moved aggressively to lift coronavirus restrictions in the state. That left the federal moratorium on evictions as the only protection for renters.
What Help Is There for Nebraskans Facing Eviction?
Nebraska has earmarked $200 million from the coronavirus aid package Congress passed in December to help tenants with back rent, utility bills and other expenses.
The program, which is managed by the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, offers up to $20,000 in assistance to renters or homeowners who need help paying up to 15 months of their bills. But the aid is only available to people who make 80% or less of their county’s median income and can show they’re unable to pay rent because of a financial hardship caused by the pandemic or they’re at risk of becoming homeless.
So far, more than $15.8 million has been distributed to 4,420 households in Nebraska by the state agency and local programs in Lincoln and Omaha.
What Help Is There for Iowans Facing Eviction?
Iowa set up a rent and utility assistance program with $195 million in federal money. The aid covers up to 12 months of late rent and utility bills for renters who make up to 80% of their area’s median income. Iowans also have to show that they either lost their job or experienced another significant financial blow caused by the pandemic.
So far, the state estimates that $2.55 million in rent and utility assistance has been distributed to 934 families statewide, but that doesn’t include a separate aid program for the Des Moines area that has distributed more than $8 million of its $14 million to 1,856 households. The rest of that money has been earmarked for applications being processed now.
Last year, Iowa distributed $31.3 million to roughly 14,000 renters in the state through a different rental assistance program.
“We can’t possibly process applications fast enough to help people avoid evictions after the moratorium ends if we can’t get the courts to be patient for the folks who have already applied for assistance, but it is just taking a while to get approved,” said Anne Bacon, of the IMPACT Community Action Partnership group, which is overseeing the Des Moines area programs.
How are Courts Handling Eviction Hearings?
Eviction cases have generally been put on hold or dismissed by Nebraska judges after tenants raised the CDC moratorium as a defense.
Scott Mertz, an attorney with Legal Aid of Nebraska, said the number of eviction lawsuits fell by more than 40% last year after the moratoriums were put in place.
About 5,300 eviction cases were filed in Nebraska courts last year, which was down from roughly 9,300 in 2019. Numbers aren’t yet available for this year.
The CDC moratorium has prevented many but not all evictions in Iowa.
Alex Kornya, general counsel at Iowa Legal Aid, said some landlords have been able to evict people whose leases had expired by arguing that they were being evicted because of the expired lease, not because of late payments.
Still, the number of eviction lawsuits statewide fell from roughly 18,000 in 2019 to 12,364 last year because of the moratoriums, Kornya said. So far in 2021, 5,944 eviction cases have been filed in Iowa courts.
How Affordable Are Rental Markets?
The rental market in Nebraska remained tight last year as the state continued to have a shortage of affordable housing. The state finance authority said the vacancy rate for apartments statewide was 3.7% last year, which was significantly lower than the 7% national average. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Nebraska increased by nearly 20% from 2015 through 2020, reaching $770.60 last year. In the Omaha metropolitan area, rent for a two-bedroom apartment averaged $974.20 last year. In the Lincoln area, that figure was $802.80.
Iowa has a tight rental market and a shortage of affordable housing. The state reported a 4.9% vacancy rate last year, which was below the national average of 7%. Statewide, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment last year was $774.70, which was 5% higher than in 2017, when the average rent was $738.70. Data on rental housing during the pandemic is not yet available.
Are Increased Evictions Expected to
Create a Surge in Homelessness?
Nebraska’s homeless ranks could swell once the eviction moratorium ends because evictions and homelessness are closely linked and there is a lack of low-income housing in the state, Mertz said. Although the number of evictions in Nebraska is expected to jump after the moratorium ends, it’s not clear how many landlords are waiting to act once it expires and the rental assistance programs may prevent some evictions.
“It’s going to be a real shock to the system if the backlog is as high as some people fear,” Mertz said.
It’s hard to say how much homelessness might increase in Iowa, but evictions are expected to jump. The number of inquiries Iowa Legal Aid received about evictions nearly doubled last year after the federal $600 a week boost to unemployment benefits expired.
Kornya said he’s concerned that evictions will spike in Iowa once the CDC moratorium ends, particularly because the state quit participating in enhanced unemployment benefits this month, depriving recipients of $300 a week in federal aid.
“We see enough out there to be extremely worried about what the future will hold,” he said.
Recent census data shows there were 10,150 adults in Nebraska and 31,702 adults in Iowa who feared they could be evicted within two months.
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