Tsunami of evictions could be coming to Yolo County as moratorium ends
YOLO COUNTY — Yolo County officials are warning of a flood of evictions that may lead to more people out on the streets unless action is taken now. The ending of the COVID-19 eviction moratorium is now being felt in a big way.
Vanessa Hanoum, a Woodland resident, expressed her anxiety about the situation.
"I don't know what to do. And I don't have family to help me out," she said.
Hanoum works as a pharmacy tech and bartender. During the pandemic, the eviction moratorium gave her peace of mind during the shutdown. Since then, she has received some rental assistance and was put on a payment plan. However, recently she received a 60-day notice following some confusion on her lease.
"Yeah, I'm a bit worried but I'm trying to stay hopeful," Hanoum said.
Nearly one year after the COVID-19 protections ended, Yolo County rental assistance programs are seeing a wave of people needing help. County officials are also noticing that evictions are on the rise.
"We are starting to anecdotally see more and more cases that are troubling," said Nolan Sullivan, Yolo County Health and Human Service Agency Director.
Sullivan explained that evictions did not happen all at once. Instead, it has taken a year for renters to fall behind on rent.
"This is something that is worrying us, and we need to prepare I think for this situation to get worse unfortunately," he said.
Sullivan said they're seeing cases where renters are more than six months behind on rent. The average assistance needed has more than tripled pre-pandemic levels.
"We're seeing in the 12, 15, 20,000 range now, which is shocking," he added.
County leaders worry the trend could lead to more people becoming homeless.
"We don't want to keep adding more fuel to the fire, per se, so keeping people permanently housed safe and sound should be a major priority," Sullivan said.
For Hanoum, moving out and finding a new home appears to be out of the question.
"Even searching for a home, everything is double the price of what I'm paying," she said.
County leaders are sounding the alarm and plan to address the issue in their next budget workshop. However, it could take months before extra funding would be allocated to rental assistance agencies.