Thousands of Michigan residents, struggling to pay rent during the coronavirus pandemic, risk eviction and eviction in the coming weeks, after the Supreme Court sided with landlords and overturned a federal decision to halt evictions in various parts of the United States.
The Supreme Court ruling prevents the administration of President Joe Biden from continuing to enforce the temporary ban on evictions imposed due to the Corona pandemic, which expired Thursday, August 26, putting about 3.5 million Americans at risk of eviction over the next two months.
The Supreme Court made it clear that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not have the authority to decide to extend a temporary ban on evictions without express authorization from Congress.
The court also said that the decision to stop the eviction had exposed millions of landlords across the country to irreparable harm, by denying them rent payments without any guarantee of their eventual recovery.
But what impact does this decision have on renters in Michigan, and is evictions expected to accelerate in the state in the coming period?
Urgent legislation
Jim Schafsma, an attorney with the Michigan Poverty Law Program, says the Supreme Court ruling does not prevent Governor Gretchen Whitmer or the Michigan legislature from unilaterally freezing evictions.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Shavsma stressed that failure to take state action and end the federal moratorium "would have a really negative impact on a lot of renters and their families who are having trouble paying rent."
A few states, including California, Maryland and New Jersey, have their own moratoriums on evictions and evictions still in place.
And in Minnesota, lawmakers have drawn up a bipartisan plan that will end a statewide moratorium on evictions by June 2022.
She reported that Governor Whitmer, who introduced a proposal to halt the statewide evictions at the start of the pandemic, has not made any plans to extend the order. Instead, she cited a proposal to spend $152 million in federal coronavirus relief to create 2,000 new homes for affordable rent.
Meanwhile, housing advocates said it was difficult to predict exactly how many residents would be evicted next month or later, but called on the state to offer additional tenant protections, beyond rent assistance and special court rules that will remain in place.
"We look forward to working with the state legislature to put Michigan families first, by ensuring that everyone has access to safe and affordable housing," said Bobby Lady, a spokesman for Governor Whitmer.
shocking evacuation
Ted Phillips, executive director of the Detroit Housing Advocacy Group, said that under state court rules, tenants who already face unfinished eviction rulings will have 10 business days to pay their late rent or lose their homes. That means evictions will likely resume early next month, after Labor Day.
And according to bridgemi.com, Phillips said that in Detroit, up to 650 families can be evicted with pending court rulings "in a very short time." He added, "The evictions will be horrific..Imagine that you lose everything you own..This is horrific and very expensive."
As many as 10,000 Michigan residents have fought off eviction notices this year, Phillips said, but will face the challenge of landlords again now that the ban is lifted.
He added: “I am not saying that 10,000 people will be evicted, what I am saying is that there have been many (eviction notices) that have been submitted, and we do not know exactly how many, and the landlords are now in a position to implement the eviction order.”
Ongoing security measures
The site explained that the decision to stop the federal eviction was one of three eviction protections for renters in Michigan, and after it was rescinded, two measures remain in place, the Federal Rental Assistance Program and state court rules that delay eviction proceedings for tenants applying for these funds.
Noting that assistance programs during the pandemic have helped reduce evictions significantly, Michigan courts approved more than 41,000 evictions in 2019, compared to just 13,450 cases in 2020 and 6,888 cases so far in 2021, according to the state court's administrative office. .
But as of early August, about 103,456 Michigan families are facing potential eviction or foreclosure over the next two months, the 16th highest in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey.
Experts stress that the rental assistance program has been "very beneficial" for renters, as more than 67,000 families in Michigan have applied for the rental assistance program since March, and about 25,000 applications have been approved so far, while 7,437 applications have been rejected, according to state data.
The federal government has given Michigan $622 million to support its rent assistance program, and the state has so far provided $152 million of that amount, with another $20 million set to be spent soon, according to the Michigan Housing Development Authority.
Despite a slow start in disbursing the funds, the program has since ramped up, and the state expects to provide up to $50 million in rental assistance this month, and up to $65 million in September, said Katie Bach, an MSHDA spokeswoman.
"That's why we've been telling people that the best way to avoid eviction is to apply for the (help in rent) program to make up for rent arrears as quickly as possible," Bach added.
And she continued, “The program can help pay the current rent and future rent
According to statistics, nearly a third of Michigan Rental Assistance Program applicants live in Wayne County, and only 24 percent of the county's 25,000 applications have been processed so far.
The process of help has been particularly slow in areas like Detroit due to the high volume of applications, and federal rules that can hamper landlord payments if the property they are renting is in need of major repair.
To speed up the pace, Bach said the state is now using "high-performing, qualified service providers" to help applicants in other areas with large applicant numbers.
The administration of President Joe Biden this week introduced new rules that allow applicants to "certify for themselves" their eligibility rather than document income and hardships they were facing.
"We believe this will help speed up processing times," Bach said. "We understand that the urgency has increased with the Supreme Court's decision and we remain committed to efficiently providing emergency rent relief to every eligible tenant or landlord in Michigan who needs it."
The relationship between landlord and tenant
As for the impact of the Supreme Court ruling on regulating the landlord-tenant relationship in Michigan, experts said the Supreme Court ruling will not have a significant impact on the Michigan Supreme Court administrative order that established special rules for dealing between landlords and tenants during the pandemic, according to the spokesperson. On behalf of the court, John Nevin.
It requires local courts to suspend eviction proceedings for up to 45 days a tenant has applied for and is awaiting federal rental assistance.
He added that it would be an "important reform" that would help resolve issues, pay landlords money, and keep families safe in their homes.
“Nearly 80 percent of applicants across all Michigan counties were able to get federal rental assistance within 45 days, and in areas with slower processing times, urgent cases are prioritized for faster assistance,” he said.
But Phillips, executive director of the Detroit Housing Advocacy Group, said that while those remaining protections are beneficial, the ongoing pandemic poses unique challenges for residents who may face eviction again.
Tenants are usually evicted because "unauthorized guests" are allowed to live with them, and these unauthorized guests are often family members who have recently been evacuated, Phillips said, and this may aid the transmission of the coronavirus.
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