With the federal ban on evicting tenets for non-payment of rent now expired, courts are preparing for a surge of filings to kick people out.
Landlords have been banned from evicting tenants since the early days of the pandemic. Many report renters that have not paid for a year and a half.
"First City Court is announcing it will extend office hours in anticipation of an influx of eviction filings," the clerk's office said in a news release.
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First City Clerk of Court Austin Badon tells WWL's Tommy Tucker that he already had some 500 evictions filed and awaiting action just in First City Court.
He expects many more now that the CDC has not extended the moratorium.
Badon says his office will now be open from 8:30 am to 5 pm every day this coming week.
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Normal office hours are 9 am to 4 pm.
Housing advocates estimate that in Louisiana alone, there are close to 100,000 tenants behind on rent.
Badon says the federal government could have handled distribution of rental assistance much better than it has.
“What congress should have done was they should have given this money directly to landlords,” said Badon. “That would have alleviated the debt onto families and prevented landlords from evicting people at least through the end of the year.”