Evictions Could Get Worse Without Benefits

Alabama sees an increase in eviction cases as Congress stalls on decisions to extend weekly unemployment benefits, and state and federal moratoriums on evictions expire. 

Michael Forton, director of advocacy for Legal Services of Alabama, said there are two groups of people being impacted: Those who lived paycheck to paycheck for most of their lives and had created enough of a safety net to get by before the pandemic; and newly poor people. 

"All the programs that were available before are now all of a sudden getting slammed because new people are coming in who are poor for the first time," Forton told Alabama Daily News. 

Housing and food insecurity are expected to only get worse in the coming weeks if eviction moratoriums and additional unemployment benefits aren't extended.

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