Whitmer Extends Suspension of Rental Evictions To July 15

(CBS DETROIT) — The temporary suspension on evictions will soon come to an end.

Last week Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extended the deadline to July 15. 

Landlords were banned from forcing tenants out for non-payment back in March due to the coronavirus pandemic that caused thousands of people to lose their jobs.

"So many of them may need to move and it's extremely difficult to uh to move during this time. Getting a mover and everything that would go with any of us moving all of our possessions and negotiating and renting from a new landlord on top of the pandemic is really horrible," said United Community Housing Coalition Executive Director, Ted Phillips.   

After numerous extensions, over 2,000 Detroiters are facing judgments for evictions once the ban is lifted.

"There's no way of knowing exactly how many evictions are slated. What we do know is we did some work to go back about five weeks before the court closed and looked at all of the cases that came to judgment. It was 2,600 in the city of Detroit and we've done outreach to those people, to those tenants to try to make sure they were protected," he said.

Reimer Priester from Villages Property Management says his team is working with tenants who are having trouble making ends meet.

"There is no question that there is if not an economic, there's a moral onus on us as landlords to help our residents who have been negatively impacted by Covid-19 to get through this," said Priester.

Under Whitmer's executive order, $50 million will be made available in lump-sum payments to landlords for allowing delinquent tenants to stay.

"We have reached out many times saying if Covid-19 has impacted your ability to afford your housing call us, help us understand your situation. We will help and that's everything from straight-up renting forgiveness, to reducing rent," said Priester.

Gov. Whitmer established the Eviction Diversion program to give residents access to rental assistance and that program is set to start July 16. 

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