Delaware renters with a collective rent deficit of nearly $3 million have applied for state assistance in the last month and half, according to the Delaware State Housing Authority. But court officials are not yet seeing the wave of evictions experts predicted.
Nearly 1,400 eviction cases were filed in Delaware Justice of the Peace Courts between March 16 and Aug. 31, according to court officials.
Chief Magistrate Alan Davis says since the Governor’s moratorium on eviction filings lifted July 1, the courts have seen about half the volume of filings that would be normal in a non-pandemic year. But he says the volume of filings is slowly increasing.
“I think the trajectory is up, but it’s Sussex County sandhills, not Mt. Everest,” he said.
Davis attributes the pace of filings at least in part to the “turmoil” around the evictions process caused by local and national moratoriums.
Delaware landlords who have filed for eviction during the pandemic must jump an extra hurdle and persuade the court that ordering a renter removed is in the “interest of justice.”
Davis says the courts are still “wrangling” with whether they should play a role in promoting or enforcing the CDC’s eviction moratorium — which applies to renters below an income threshold who aren’t able to pay rent, and lasts through the end of the year.
The “vast majority” of eviction cases filed in Delaware during the pandemic have been money-related, Davis says.
“I think what we will see because of the CDC order in particular, because it only affects financial cases, is that we will have a much greater [percentage of cases related to] rules violations and things of that sort,” Davis said.
The Courts are still working on deploying an online dispute resolution system for pandemic-era eviction cases, and finishing scheduling the pre-pandemic cases that got backed up.
John Whitelaw is advocacy director at the Community Legal Aid Society of Delaware, which provides free legal services to qualifying people. He says even though non-emergency eviction cases filed during the pandemic have not yet gone to trial, some struggling renters have likely left their homes.
“You might do it to avoid having an eviction case filed,” he said. “You might do it because you don’t understand what your legal rights are. You might do it for any number of reasons. Am I sure it’s happening? Absolutely. ”
Between July 1 and Sept. 17, Delaware courts issued 74 writs of possession, which authorize constables to remove tenants.
The Delaware State Housing Authority’s (DSHA) Housing Assistance Program received more than 5,600 applications when it first launched at the end of March. The program was forced to stop accepting applications because of the volume of demand.
Since the program launched again Aug. 10, 830 properties have submitted applications with a total rent deficiency of $2.8 million, according to DSHA. Another 500 households have begun applications. Sixty applications had been approved as of Thursday, and several hundred more were in the review process. Applicants can receive up to $5,000 under the new program.
