As Eviction Proceedings Resume After COVID-19, 'the Floodgates Are About to Open'

As the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office resumes serving eviction notices, housing advocates are asking local, state, and federal officials to offer rental assistance for tenants who are sure to face financial challenges in the coming months.

For those struggling to make ends meet, the shutdown could be the thing that pushes them into homelessness. 

When local courts resume normal operations as restrictions are reduced, eviction experts predict hundreds of cases will be filed by landlords over tenants who’ve been laid off or lost their jobs.

“The floodgates are about to open for us and we have some apprehension about that,” said Janet McAuley Blue, a managing attorney for Legal Aid of North Carolina's Greensboro office. 

The federal stimulus checks and unemployment benefits many renters received likely helped keep them off the streets, delaying the inevitable.

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