CLEVELAND — The extension on the eviction moratorium has some renters breathing a sigh of relief, but some landlords are not thrilled about Tuesday's announcement.
The new 60-day moratorium extends to parts of the country experiencing substantial-to-high spread of COVID-19 which includes most of Northeast Ohio and about 90% of the country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the extension will keep people from losing their homes and ending up in shared facilities as the delta variant surges.
Caroline Walton owns five properties in Cleveland and East Cleveland. Walton says she's been experiencing a nightmare with one of her tenants because they haven't been paying rent and they are trashing her property. With the extension of the CDC's eviction moratorium, Walton says she has no way to get the problem tenant out.
"They want you to accept the money but keep the bad tenant," Walton said. "It isn't fair, eventually they're going to have to go anyway, so the government might as well give landlords the chance to get these people out of our properties, so we can clean our properties back up and re-rent our properties."
Julie Wisneski with the United Way says about 12,000 evictions happened across Cuyahoga County before the pandemic, and she believes the extension could cover at least that many people. Wisneski says the extension on the CDC's eviction moratorium is another step to help people stay in their homes, but more needs to be done.
"We are very pleased with the extension put forth by President Biden," Wisneski said. "But this is a temporary fix to a fundamental issue of poverty that lawmakers need to address."
The moratorium will remain in effect until Oct. 3. Wisneski is urging anyone who needs help to contact the United Way. The nonprofit organization is partnering with Legal Aid to provide free legal services, so struggling renters can call 211 or visit freeevictionhelp.org for more information.
RELATED: Landlords, fair housing advocates brace for impact of federal eviction moratorium's expiration
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