Millions at risk as US eviction ban ends

WASHINGTON－Millions of US citizens stood to find themselves homeless on Sunday as a nationwide ban on evictions expired, against a backdrop of surging coronavirus cases and political finger-pointing.

With billions in government funds meant to help renters still untapped, President Joe Biden last week urged Congress to extend the 11-month-old moratorium after a recent Supreme Court ruling meant the White House could not do so.

But Republicans balked at Democratic efforts to extend the eviction ban until mid-October, and the House of Representatives adjourned for its summer break on Friday without renewing it.

Lawmakers said they were blindsided by Biden's inaction as the deadline neared, some furious that he called on Congress to provide a last-minute solution to protect renters. The rare division between the president and his party carried potential lasting political ramifications.

"We slept at the Capitol last night to ask them to come back and do their jobs," said Congresswoman Cori Bush, who has herself experienced homelessness. "Today's their last chance."

With the clock ticking down to Sunday, the country was braced for a heartbreaking spectacle－families with their belongings at the curbside wondering where to go.

More than 3.6 million people are at risk of eviction, some in a matter of days. The moratorium was put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in response to the COVID-19 crisis when jobs shifted and many workers lost income.

'Too late'

One of those at risk is Terriana Clark, 27, who was living out of a car with her husband and two stepchildren for much of last year, before finding a teaching job and an apartment in Harvey, Louisiana.

Jobless again and struggling to pay rent after a bout of illness, The New Orleans Advocate quoted her as saying she had applied to a local assistance program four months ago but was still waiting for help.

"If it comes, it comes. If it don't, it don't. It's going to be too late for a lot of people. A lot of people are going to be outside."

In Michigan, Mary Hunt, who is paid a minimum wage driving a medical taxi, said she fell behind on her rent on a mobile home because she became sick with COVID-19.

She was served with eviction papers, and she frets over what to do with her belongings, including five cats and one dog.

"How do I choose which cats to keep?" Hunt told National Public Radio. "It's not going to happen. I'm not going to leave any of them behind. If I lose this house, then they go in the car with me. And people can think I'm a crackpot, but I'm not giving up my family."

Unlike other pandemic-related aid that was distributed from Washington, such as stimulus checks, it was states, counties and cities that were responsible for building programs from the ground up to dole out assistance earmarked for renters. The Treasury Department said that by June only $3 billion in aid had reached households out of the $25 billion sent to states and localities in early February, less than three weeks after Biden took office.

The CDC ordered the eviction moratorium last September as the world's largest economy lost more than 20 million jobs amid the pandemic shutdowns. The CDC feared homelessness would boost coronavirus infections.

Agencies via Xinhua