WSB-TV’s Matt Johnson finds nearly 400,000 Georgians could be evicted after Sen. Perdue went on a month-long summer recess without reauthorizing federal eviction protections
Ossoff’s plan would protect Georgians from eviction and keep them in their homes
Read Ossoff’s full eviction protection plan, here
Atlanta, Ga. — A devastating new report from WSB-TV’s Matt Johnson finds nearly 400,000 Georgians could face eviction by the end of this year after Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and the U.S. Senate let key eviction protections in federal legislation expire last month before leaving for their summer recess.
Congress had originally put in place an eviction moratorium through late July, which protected families in federally backed housing from being evicted during the pandemic. Those protections, however, expired, and Congress has failed to extend them and refused to pass another round of stimulus checks that could have helped Georgians pay their rent.
Last month, before these key eviction protections expired, investigative journalist and Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jon Ossoff unveiled a plan to protect families from evictions and called on Congress to act before it was too late.
Ossoff also called on Congress to swifty send another round of $1,200 stimulus checks to Georgia families and to block utility companies from shutting off access to power, water, or gas if a family cannot afford to make their bills, none of which were addressed by Perdue or the U.S. Senate before adjourning for the summer.
Read more about the dangers Georgia families face right now as Perdue remains on recess:
August 30:Nearly 400k Georgians could face eviction as protections run out, experts say
WSB-TV // Matt Johnson
- “I think Georgia and states across the country are going to see a huge uptick in the amount of evictions. Now that the deadlines are back in place, evictions will start moving forward,” Gainey said.
- Courts are starting to get to the more than 10,000 eviction cases filed since mid-march in Fulton, Cobb and DeKalb Counties alone.
- Johnson spoke to a woman who wished to remain anonymous after she says she fell behind two months on her rent and is facing eviction. “The whole situation has been stressful, scary, and overwhelming,” she said. “My grandmother is 94 years old, so I take care of her, and it’s like trying to make sure she has a roof over her head.”
- Across Georgia, global consulting firm Stout Risuss Ross estimated 45% of renters could face eviction. The company used census data to predict up to 381,000 Georgians could be evicted over the next four months.
- Ellie Thaxton works with a grassroots organization called the Clarkston Area Economic Relief Fund that helps families facing evictions. “I think it’s going to be the most vulnerable that are going to be impacted and that’s going to be single mothers, children, people of color,” Thaxton said. “Single black mothers are the most common evictions that we normally see.”
- Thaxton said she worries about how a potential surge in evictions will affect children who may lose their spots in schools. “I just think that we can’t underestimate how much this is going to disrupt the communities that are going to be impacted by it,” Thaxton said.
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