The first of the month comes around every month

July 1 is coming. The first day of the rest of the year.  Get ready to process some evictions.

New Orleans’ First and Second City Courts, which handle the majority of the city’s evictions, won’t start proceedings for newly filed eviction cases until July 6, according to courts spokesman Walt Pierce.

The courts will, however, start eviction proceedings on Monday for the backlog of evictions filed before the court suspended them on March 13. That order put 106 eviction cases on hold that were already scheduled between March 13 and March 30.

The state moratorium ended on June 15.  There is also a federal date of August 25 dictated by the CARES Act which applies only to properties where federal assistance is involved (Section 8, FHA, etc.)  Earlier the City Council had asked the courts to wait until then for everything in order to avoid confusion.  But apparently the City Courts are moving forward anyway. 

The catch there is most tenants (and possibly even a few landlords) may not be aware of the federal moratorium or if it applies to them.  From the looks of things a number of landlords have already shown up to court unprepared to answer that question.  (Or maybe to lie about it.)

Instead of putting off all evictions, First and Second City Courts are requiring all landlords to submit affidavits swearing that they don’t participate in any federal programs that would prevent them from evicting tenants prior to August 25.

“I support the affidavit,” Adams said. “I think it’s a way to notify all parties that a detailed inquiry will be done to ensure that the CARES Act doesn’t apply and the eviction isn’t done in violation of federal law.”

Badon said that he’s seen many people turned away from filing an eviction after finding out they would need to submit the affidavit prior to the court hearing.

“I was at the front door personally myself having to explain it to them,” Badon said. “I had to spend some significant time with certain individuals to explain it to them. They thought they could come here and be done with it but they didn’t know about the affidavit.”

Of course they'll be back soon enough... unless congress is ready to fire up the money gun... or, even less likely, everyone is back to work and making tons of money by August somehow.  There's a first of the month every month, you know.