Thousands Of Renters Face Eviction After US Supreme Court Decision To End Eviction Moratorium

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The federal eviction ban has ended for the second time in just four weeks.

"Effective immediately the eviction ban is over, so evocations can move forward," said attorney Chad Van Horn.

Van Horn refers to the federal eviction moratorium put in place last year to help millions of struggling renters, but the ban on eviction was recently struck down by the US Supreme Court.

"So what that means for renters is if you're behind on rent, you will soon get a letter from your landlord saying that you need to pay or move out or the eviction proceedings are going to start," added Van Horn.

Van Horn says it's estimated that between 20-30% of renters are behind on rent throughout the country and Peter Routsis-Arroyo, the CEO of Catholic Charities of the archdiocese of Miami adds the impacts of the Supreme Court decision could be felt by hundreds of thousands throughout South Florida.

"We were seeing people who are struggling with just the basic necessities such as food and medication and things of that nature but many of them have had a roof over their heads the situation with the moratorium being lifted now makes for a major issue," added Routsis-Arroyo.

Routsis-Arroyo says his and many other agencies expect to see an influx of people needing rental assistance and he's worried those people could soon be homeless.

"This is going to be a significant amount of families, many who lived on the edge from paycheck to paycheck and prior to the pandemic and of course with a pandemic they lost their jobs."

But there are some in support of the Supreme Court ruling.

Landlords and real estate companies brought the lawsuit that resulted in the decision, saying that while protections were put in place for renters, they still had mortgages and bills associated with their rental properties.

As for the renters impacted, Van Horn says there is no time to wait, you should be proactive.

"If you think you can get the money together and make a deal with the landlord moving forward reach out to them immediately to make that deal," added Van Horn.