Landlords Can’t Evict Their Tenants

Most landlords have complied with the eviction moratoria, especially those with lawyers and property managers of their own to guide them through this crisis, according to attorneys.

New tenant protections can’t or won’t stop the landlords who either don’t know the rules — or refuse to follow them.

Kateland Woodcock, an attorney with the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society in Petersburg, recently received four illegal eviction cases in one day, “which is incredibly abnormal,” she said.

“I serve low-income people, that’s my entire client base, so for my clients having to pay $50 for the one-star motel near the highway, that’s a lot of money for them. That’s possibly their food money, that’s possibly going to the doctor. It’s traumatic to just be out like that,” Woodcock said.

Stuart Campbell, an attorney for Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, has also seen his caseload increase since the coronavirus streaked across the country. 

“If we’re seeing that increase, if it’s trickling down to us, I’m 100% confident it’s happening on a much larger scale across the nation and the state,” Campbell said.

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