The eviction moratorium expires Friday at midnight and there’s expected to be a rush of eviction filings in the days after. New Orleans Clerk of 1st City Court Austin Badon told WWL that he’s already had a number of landlords show up at his office ahead of the expiration.
“When I went to work on Monday morning I was surprised by the number of landlords who have already come in to file evictions. Tuesday was another busy day at my office with landlords coming in to file evictions,” said Badon.
Badon said these owners are showing up ahead of the expiration hoping to get a jump start on the process for filing an eviction and getting a court date to remove tenants.
“This week we have been busy already, when landlords have started to come in, we cannot give them a court date, but they are already coming in and getting them a spot in line,” said Badon.
Because of the apparent demand for evictions, Badon will be offering extended office hours Saturday. His office on the second floor of the Civil Court building right next to City Hall will be open 9 AM to 1 PM. Badon warned tenants to start a dialog with their landlords now because once the moratorium ends, and court dates are obtained, things could move quickly.
“I have seen it where in as little as 24 hours someone could be evicted from their unit,” said Badon.
Renters who are behind on rent are encouraged to visit the Emergency Rental Assistance Fair at Joe Brown Park in New Orleans East. Badon said Tuesday there was a line around the building all day.
