The eviction tsunami is on the horizon. The holiday-shortened week of September 7, 2021 saw 246 new residential evictions filed, more than at any time since the week of March 16, 2020 (264 filings) – and filings this week are on pace to eclipse that number. These figures, which approach pre-pandemic filing rates, call into question the sufficiency of the protections currently in place, and illustrate that the expirations of state and federal eviction moratoria are leaving renters out to dry.
The Connecticut Fair Housing Center calls on Governor Lamont and lawmakers to take immediate action to stop the worsening eviction crisis.
Eviction and foreclosure numbers
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Eviction and foreclosure by the numbers
2021 eviction filings exceed number filed in 2020—By September 30, 2020, landlords filed a total of 5,106 eviction cases. To date in 2021, landlords have filed 5,559 cases. In addition, the courts have issued 2,319 executions so far in 2021 compared to 2,198 issued during all of 2020. Once an execution is issued, a marshal may physically remove the tenant and their belongings after providing 24 hours’ notice.
Racial and ethnic disparities continue: According to the latest data from the Household Pulse Survey, 28% of Latinx renters and 41% of Asian renters are not caught up on rent compared to only 6.5% of white renters who report not being caught up on rent. The survey also reports that 40% of Latinx renters and 32% of Black renters have little or no confidence in their ability to pay rent next month compared to 11% of white renters.
Homeowners are still reporting being behind on their mortgage. The survey reports that 17.8% of Latinx homeowners and 17.2% of Black homeowners are not caught up on their mortgage payments compared to 2% of white homeowners.
Connecticut Executive Orders
Connecticut’s Eviction Moratorium expired June 30, 2021. However, Governor Lamont has issued E.O. 12D, which was extended to September 30, 2021 by E.O. 13, and includes the following provisions:
- Landlords must complete an application for the State’s UniteCT rental assistance program prior to delivering a notice to quit for nonpayment of rent. The UniteCT case number must be included on the Notice to Quit;
- Landlords must give tenants a 30-day Notice to Quit if they intend to evict for nonpayment of rent, for lapse of time, or because the right to occupy a unit has terminated;
- All Notices to Quit given for any reason must be delivered with information about the State’s UniteCT program and the federal CDC eviction moratorium in both English and Spanish;
- Tenants have an opportunity to continue all terms of their rental agreement by paying outstanding rent within the 30-day Notice to Quit period;
- If during any summary process (eviction) case, a UniteCT application is made, all proceedings in the summary process case must be stopped for 30 days or until a decision is made on the UniteCT application, whichever is earlier. If the UniteCT application is approved, the summary process case must be stopped until the UniteCT payment is made, and the summary process action is withdrawn or dismissed.
To implement E.O. 12D, the Judicial Branch has instructed its Housing Court Clerks to review all residential non-payment notices to quit served between July 1, 2021, and September 30, 2021:
- For the required UniteCT case number. Cases with defective notices to quit will be referred to the housing judge for dismissal or other action the judge deems appropriate;
- To ensure that any notice has a quit date at least 30 days from the service date unless the notice is solely for serious nuisance;
- To ensure that the notices were delivered with an English and a Spanish copy of the State of Connecticut’s UniteCT Flyer.
In addition, the Housing Court Clerks have been told:
- If they are notified of a pending UniteCT application prior to a summary process execution issuing, to ask the notifying party(s) to submit a written notification of the UniteCT application to the court for the judge’s review and entry of an order staying the proceedings. Clerks will not stop the application for an execution if the case is based solely on serious nuisance.
- If an execution has already issued, the clerk is to notify the parties that if the tenant wants to stop the move out based on a UniteCT application, the tenant must present at an application for temporary injunction (audita querela) to the court.
- The Connecticut Legislature must come into emergency session to extend the Governor’s emergency authority with regard to evictions. According to the latest Household Pulse Survey, 45,000 Connecticut residents were not caught up on rent as of August 16, 2021 while 157,000 had little or no confidence in their ability to pay rent next month. Of the 45,000 not caught up on rent, 36,000 had not yet applied for rental assistance. Executive Order 12D has resulted in an increase in the numbers of landlords and tenants applying for UniteCT. However, the pace of eviction case filings is rising and tenants are being removed from their homes for not paying rent when over $338 million dollars of UniteCT assistance has not yet been spent.
- Governor Lamont must extend and improve Executive Order 12D . The order must:
- Require all landlords to apply for UniteCT and receive a denial before serving a Notice to Quit for nonpayment of rent;
- Require that all Notices to Quit for nonpayment of rent, lapse of time, and no right or privilege provide at least 60 days to quit possession and 60 days to cure any nonpayment of rent;
- Require all landlords with pending eviction cases for nonpayment of rent to apply for UniteCT (which includes submitting all required documentation and withdrawing the case upon receipt of UniteCT assistance) before an execution will issue;
- Automatically stay eviction cases when a UniteCT application is made and until a payment is made or the application is denied;
- Clarify that LLs must participate in or accept UniteCT, and that a refusal to do so is illegal discrimination based against a lawful source of income and that failure to submit a complete UniteCT application prior to starting an eviction case is also in violation of the EO;
- Remain in effect for the duration of the pandemic.
The CT Judicial Branch must require courts to hold a hearing before an execution issues for any eviction case other than serious nuisance. This is a critical last check to see if a UniteCT application has been submitted and if the landlord has received UniteCT assistance. Since the end of the federal CDC moratorium, the Branch has stopped requiring courts to hold such automatic hearings before allowing executions to issue.
There are no moratoria in place for foreclosures. This means that any mortgage lender can file a foreclosure unless the homeowner is in forbearance. It also means that, as has been the case throughout the pandemic, municipalities, condo associations, and tax lien purchasers can pursue foreclosure actions.
Ability to request a forbearance ends September 30, 2021 for some homeowners—Homeowners with FHA, VA, or USDA have until September 30, 2021 to request a forbearance if they are having difficulties paying their mortgage. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have not yet announced a deadline to request a forbearance.
A recent report shows that as many as 400,000 homeowners around the country will reach the end of their forbearance eligibility this month. This means lenders and loan servicers will be able to proceed with foreclosure if they do not offer a workout to these homeowners. Currently an estimated 1.71 million borrowers are in forbearance.
Shutoff moratorium ending for some utility customers—At 18-month moratorium that stopped gas, electric, and water shutoffs for nonpayment ended on September 15, 2021. However, service will not be shutoff if the customer has a financial hardship. To notify Eversource about a financial hardship and to request help, call 800-286-2828 (electric) or 800-438-2278 or go to www.eversource.com. To notify Connecticut Natural Gas about a financial hardship, call 860-727-3555. To apply for assistance to pay your utilities, go to https://portal.ct.gov/DSS/Economic-Security/Winter-Heating-Assistance/Energy-Assistance—Winter-Heating/Apply to find the nearest agency who can assist you.
For more information about the work of the Center
On September 20, 2021 Executive Director, Erin Kemple, will be speaking at the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s weekly discussion about how to advance long-term solutions to end the housing crisis and achieve housing justice. Erin will be discussing the fair housing implications of the eviction crisis and the Center’s work assisting tenants during the pandemic.
