Thursday, April 25, 2024
For many people whose employment was affected by the coronavirus, Wednesday was the first day that rent was due while a pandemic grips the country.
As bad as March was, April promises to be worse.
On Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered that only essential businesses could remain open. Social distancing is to continue until April 30, and schools will remain closed until May 4.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is rising, along with the death toll.
Those who couldn’t pay their April rent, or who barely scraped it together, may find themselves in further trouble come May 1.
The Texas Supreme Court declared a moratorium on most evictions throughout Texas, but the stay lifts on April 19.
And just because eviction proceedings have been slowed down doesn’t mean that rent still isn’t owed, or that late fees don’t apply and won’t accumulate.
“Any rents owed on April 19 will still be owed and, as things stand now, any landlord can proceed fully on the eviction at that time,” said attorney Paul Hyde of The Hyde Law Firm.
Government stimulus checks are coming, supposedly soon. Those who earn up to $75,000 per year will receive $1,200, along with $500 per child if they have minor children at home.
The $2 trillion stimulus bill boosted unemployment benefits for 120 days at the level of state benefits plus an extra $600 per week, so that will help, too.
HARSH REALITIES
Still, though, times may be tough for a while.
There are no provisions in the Supreme Court’s noevictions order forgiving rent, removing late fees and penalties, or providing for any plan to accommodate renters who do not have the money to pay their rent due to layoffs, business shutdowns, or any other reason, according to Hyde.
“Additionally, there are no orders in place providing for past due rent to be deferred to a later time, or spread out over the term of the lease, etc.,” he said. “Nor are there are any provisions in that court order forgiving or deferring late fees and penalties for non-payment of rent.”
Although no residential evictions can occur prior to April 19, landlords can nevertheless file the eviction prior to that date. The order simply means that no hearings will take place before April 19.
Based on this, no writs of possession can occur prior to April 26, Hyde said.
“The writ of possession is the order from the court that gives the landlord the legal right to take possession of the property,” Hyde stated. “So, basically, no one is going to be removed from their homes prior to April 26.”
LATE FEES, PENALTIES
As a way to explain what some renters may soon face, Hyde used this scenario: A particular lease says that rent is due at some point within the first five days of the month and is considered late on the sixth. The contract provides for $20 in late fees beginning on the 6th of each month.
“If a tenant does not pay April’s rent at all, this tenant will accumulate $500 in late fees for the month of April” – $20 per day for 25 days, Hyde said.
If the tenant in that scenario is also unable to pay rent for the month of May, they could end up owing $1,640 in late fees, plus the rent for those two months, Hyde said.
“My hope during this very difficult time is that landlords and tenants can work together to reach some sort of compromise,” Hyde stated.
The financial ramifications of the pandemic are “broad and sweeping” and “tragic” for individuals, families and businesses, he said.
Many landlords are themselves small business owners and depend on monthly rent payments to pay their own bills and support their families.
“These landlords have business overhead to pay, and this oftentimes includes wages to their own employees,” Hyde stated. “If these rents are not being received, these landlords will likely have to lay off their own employees, further compounding the problems.”
Hyde advised that everyone help and lean on each other.
“It is important to keep in mind that we are all in this together,” he said.
