Fort Worth rental company sues to overturn nationwide eviction moratorium amid COVID
A Fort Worth rental company is suing to end a United States moratorium on evictions at federally-backed properties that was enacted to protect renters during the coronavirus crisis. If the moratorium is overturned, nearly one in three Texas renters, most of them low-to-middle income earners, would be vulnerable to eviction.
The company, Sappington Garden, owns an apartment complex in Ridglea Hills and is joined in the lawsuit by Celtic Place, a rental company in Conroe. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Texas’s Northern District Court. It was first reported by The Dallas Morning News.
In late March, Congress included the eviction moratorium as part of the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Securities Act (CARES Act), which was passed to lessen the economic crush of COVID-19. The moratorium prevents landlords from filing evictions at properties that are backed by federal funding until at least July 25. The legislation also protects evicted tenants from having to vacate their properties for 30 days after the eviction.
According to the Urban Institute, at least one-fourth of properties in the United States are federally backed, and the Texas Supreme Court estimated one-third of Texas renters lived in these types of properties.
Sappington Garden claims in the lawsuit that since the pandemic began it has waived late fees and offered partial rent payment plans to its tenants, who are mostly blue-collar and service workers. Some of the tenants have not cooperated, according to the lawsuit, placing Sappington Garden in financial distress.
The plaintiffs argue the eviction moratorium under the CARES Act prevents them from accessing the Texas court system, denying their rights to due process and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. They asked that the court file an injunction that would dissolve the moratorium at its earliest opportunity.
Texas has faced issues with landlords trying to bypass the CARES Act and illegally evict tenants. A study by Eric Kwartzler, a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, found that about 10% of 3,652 evictions initiated in Harris County over the last three months involved CARES Act-protected properties.
Housing advocates in Texas have long warned of an eviction crisis later this summer after all moratoriums end (Texas’s statewide moratorium ended last month). Some 2.6 million Texans have filed for unemployment since mid-March.
