ST. LOUIS (NewsNation Now) — With the eviction moratorium still in place across the country, landlords are expressing concern they’ve been forgotten in the crisis.
One landlord, Allen Shelton, told NewsNation affiliate KTVI he has a tenant that hasn’t paid rent for months. He says he’s owed $6,000. Shelton can’t evicting the tenant due to the ongoing eviction mortarium.
He said there are also others living in his property that are behind on rent and says he’s owned a total of $11,000.
Shelton says he has a family too that he has to take care of out of his income from rental property.
“That’s not right for us, as investors or landlords. It’s not right for us period. What are we supposed to do?, ” said Shelton.
St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts said the only evictions he’s serving involve criminals activities taking place and at some commercial locations. Beyond that, he says landlords just have to be patient.
Health experts stress the importance of keeping families in their homes to avoid spread of COVID-19 and more homelessness.
Some landlords are not waiting though and working to evict tenants months behind on rent.
“There’s bad players out there — slumlords, but also responsible housing providers that are getting crushed right now,” recently explained New York landlord Matthew Drouin.
The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package would extend eviction and foreclosure moratoriums to the end of September. President Joe Biden is proposing an additional $25 billion in rental assistance, on top of the $25 billion passed by Congress in December.
NewsNation affiliate KTVI contributed to this report.