Attorney Elliot Lane, Judge Claudia Baio at hearing.
A tenant’s lack of awareness of rental assistance options, and her husband’s “pending immigration status,” led a housing judge to rule that they were ineligible for the CDC’s nationwide eviction moratorium and that they can now be evicted from their home.
That was the outcome of a hearing Tuesday in state housing court.
Westville Ventures LLC, represented by Elliot Lane, sued two self-represented tenants of an apartment at 400 Blake St. over nonpayment of rent since February 2020
On April 1, 2021, Judge Claudia Baio granted permission for the eviction to be carried out, after the defendants failed to appear on their scheduled court date.
Eight days later, the tenants, a couple named Leah and Ahmed, filed a request to be covered by the Centers for Disease Control’s pandemic eviction moratorium, as well as an application for a temporary injunction, or pause in the execution. They argued in court documents that they have no other housing options and, should the eviction be carried out, would have to live in a crowded homeless shelter, a public health hazard during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“[We] are doing our best to fix this but have had troubles because of lost jobs and wages,” Leah and Ahmed wrote in their application.
Judge Baio considered the requests at Tuesday hearing.
Baio listed the criteria for being covered by the moratorium: That tenants make less than $99,000 per year; that they’ve used “best efforts” to obtain housing and rental assistance; and that, if evicted, they would likely become homeless.
Baio concluded the tenants meet the requirements of facing homelessness and having a limited income; only one of the two tenants currently has a job, and it is a part-time job held for only the past month.
But neither of the tenants has applied for any rental or housing assistance. Baio determined that makes them ineligible for the moratorium.
Leah responded that she didn’t know if she qualified and “wanted to make sure first.” Ahmed said that he is ineligible due to his immigration status.
Judge Baio was unmoved.
“The defendants candidly acknowledged that not only did they not make best efforts to obtain government assistance in rental or housing, but they made no efforts,” she said.
Madison Hahamy Photo
Attorney Rosenthal: “Maddening” lack of outreach to immigrants facing eviction.
The lack of knowledge surrounding tenant’s qualifications for housing and rental assistance is a pervasive problem, Attorney Elizabeth Rosenthal, who handles many housing cases, noted in an interview after the case (in which she was not involved).
“Immigration status can preclude you from certain programs,” Rosenthal said. The state’s Homeless Prevention Program and the Temporary Rental Housing Assistance Program require social security numbers, she said. And while some programs such as statewide Unite CT are not supposed to asking for the numbers, “it’s not being well advertised, and Unite is moving the goalposts daily.”
Even people who would normally qualify for the rental assistance are often unsure if they are eligible to apply, Rosenthal added.
“They’ve done very little outreach about the program and making clear what the requirements are. It’s maddening,” she said.
More info on related issues, organizations:
Local Learn: Connecticut Coalition To End Homelessness
National Act: National Alliance To End Homelessness
Local Act: Empower underserved communities in Connecticut
Local Learn: New Haven community wealth-building initiatives
National Act: Organizations that support community development
This is a very tragic outcome and a very sad day, when the court cannot recognize the lack of access immigrants have- their fear of doing something wrong which often prevents them from inquiring what their options are. Not everyone knows how to navigate the system. In my opinion this is shameful . We are in a pandemic circumstances are extreme. This is just adding to the homeless problem. There have been many options and financial programs created and available to landlords that should have covered their losses to some extent.