Tulsa is bracing for another courthouse rush now that the U.S. Supreme Court has declared the nationwide eviction moratorium unlawful, local officials said Friday morning.
The city saw a wave of new eviction cases in early August after the Supreme Court had said the moratorium couldn’t remain in place any longer without Congress changing federal law to allow it.
The Biden administration initially abided by the court’s decision but reversed course just three days later and imposed the moratorium again, despite Congress’ having taking no action to approve it.
On Thursday, high court judges did what most experts expected and overturned the moratorium, saying federal officials had no legal authority to prevent landlords from enforcing the terms of a lease.
“Our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends,” the majority opinion says, acknowledging that the moratorium was intended to prevent homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue,” the opinion said, “Congress must specifically authorize it.”
More than 15 million people nationwide, including thousands in Tulsa, have fallen behind on rent payments during the pandemic, according to federal officials.
“If Congress doesn’t act,” said Eric Hallett, a Legal Aid attorney who works with Tulsa tenants free of charge, “we will see another rush to file eviction cases.”
Several Tulsa agencies worked together to open an “evictions hub” in early August, when local officials thought the moratorium had ended for good. Located at the Iron Gate soup kitchen, directly across the street from the downtown courthouse where eviction cases are heard, the hub offers a one-stop location where tenants can find several types of help, including free legal advice.
Perhaps most importantly, the hub can help tenants sign up for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which can pay overdue rent for them if their landlords agree to cooperate.
“If you receive a court summons,” Hallett said, “you must go to court. You should show up an hour early so you can access the services at the hub.”
At the very least, attorneys can get more time for evicted tenants to find new places to live.
“Tenants who don’t go to court will not get extra time to move,” Hallett said.
Tulsa’s federally funded rental assistance program has distributed more than $7.4 million in rent payments since the effort began in March, when it was intended to help the city prepare for the end of the eviction moratorium.
The program sent nearly $1 million in rent payments to Tulsa landlords on Thursday alone, said Jeff Jaynes, executive director of Restore Hope Ministries, the local nonprofit agency that is administering the city’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
“We know landlords are hurting right now,” Jaynes said. “We’re here to help the landlords just as much as we’re here to help the tenants.”
If tenants have fallen behind on rent, Tulsa landlords have two options, Jaynes said: Take the tenants to court “or refer them to us.”
“We’re working as fast as we can to make sure landlords get paid. But we can’t help the landlord if the tenant has already been evicted.”
Featured video:
G.T. Bynum Talks Eviction Moratorium during a joint news conference to discuss the end of the eviction moratorium, which is set to expire July 31
Photos: City helps Spanish-speakers sign up for emergency rent assistance
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The federal eviction moratorium was modified recently and specifies that it applies to regions experiencing high numbers of COVID-19 cases, which includes most of the country.
La Cosecha Director Rita Gallardo said her organization, created in 2015, typically provides groceries and other essential items to the Tulsa community using the church as a hub. The decision to use the Iglesia Hispana Victory as the meeting place for what the city called the ERAP “Application Station” was an easy one, Gallardo said.
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The city of Tulsa joined organizations including Restore Hope Ministries, local nonprofit organization La Cosecha and Iglesia Hispana Victory to provide in-person assistance to Spanish-language speakers as they apply for Emergency Rental Assistance Program funds.
In Tulsa County, the city of Tulsa has said at least 12,000 people have applied for ERAP assistance, which has so far yielded more than $8.6 million in rental and utility funds to roughly 1,800 households. There is no dollar amount on the assistance a family could receive, and no Social Security number was required to apply.
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City of Tulsa communications staffer Gitzel Puente (center) said the event was the first of its kind in which the city had in-person help available for Spanish speakers. She said the city previously helped coordinate a similar event in English for residents in north Tulsa.
“We know that everybody has been impacted by COVID, and we know that there is a language barrier sometimes,” she said. “That’s why we’re bringing this to people who might not have heard of the program before this.”
Puente said Tuesday’s event had an “overwhelming response.”
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The line started to form outside the church doors around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
La Cosecha was “serving about 600 families every week (before COVID-19), and now we are serving about 2,000 every week, so yes, it has changed things for us, for sure,” Gallardo said of the pandemic.
She said La Cosecha — meaning “The Harvest” in Spanish — was also working with the Tulsa Police Department on a drive-through event on Saturday to give away backpacks containing much-needed children’s school supplies.
Asked about the increase in service over the past year, she said: “It’s heartbreaking to see the situations people have. We try to do as much as we can to help them and support them, but they are facing very sad situations.”
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Iglesia Hispana Victory held the application sessions in its hall at 10188 E. 41st Street.
The worship hall was filled with families, separated into groups by which operating systems their phones use, as Puente and other volunteers guided the audience on the online application process through Restore Hope’s Spanish-language website.
The first step: photographing copies of identification cards, lease agreements and utility bills. Those without cellphones received aid with submitting their applications on laptops.
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The Oklahoma Caring Van also had a pop-up vaccination clinic at the church to offer access to the Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma had a presence at the event to help tenants who may have received threats of eviction or had proceedings initiated against them during the ongoing pandemic.
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“We just love doing this for the community,” Gallardo said of Tuesday’s event. “(The pandemic) has been a roller coaster for sure, for everyone, but we just have to adjust every day, basically.”
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To date, the Emergency Rental Assistance Program has drawn more than 12,000 applications, and more than $8.6 million in rental and utility assistance has been distributed to more than 1,775 households within the city of Tulsa and Tulsa County.
For more information about ERAP and to apply, go to cityoftulsa.org/erap.
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Those needing utility assistance can call 311 (918-596-2100 outside city limits) to set up a payment arrangement; call 211 for financial help; or check the Emergency Rental Assistance Program at cityoftulsa.org/erap to see if you qualify.
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