What are they even doing there

Kicking people out of their homes in the middle of a pandemic/depression must be essential work. Otherwise, we wouldn't force people into dangerous conditions in order to get it done.

Tenant advocates said this week they’re also worried about conditions inside the courtrooms. Anderson-Trahan’s docket quickly became backlogged. One case that was scheduled for 11 a.m. was still being heard at 6 p.m. At one point, there were 24 people inside a small courtroom that doesn’t have working AC. One woman nearly collapsed in the heat.

The judge tried to cut down on the number of people in the courtroom, only to announce minutes later that an overflow room was also crowded.

There were clear signs that the court took some precautions: temperatures were checked at the door and masks were required — but the judge ordered litigants who stood a few feet apart from each other to remove the masks so the court reporter could hear them.

The landlord police are already de-funded

There's barely anything you can say to them. All these judges can do is ask them nicely to wait a few days.

“We gotta be aware and cognizant of the reality of life right now,” Judge Monique Morial said during one of the hearings. “Given the situation that we find ourselves in, the last thing that I want to do is contribute to an already dire homelessness problem in our community. I understand that landlords are entitled to their property. But I think also in the circumstances we find ourselves in we need to be a little bit compassionate in how we deal with these situations.”

In a typical “rule absolute” ruling, Morial gave tenants two days to move out. A notice would be put on the property the day after the ruling, which informs tenants they have 24 hours to vacate. But Morial urged several landlords to agree to give tenants extra time to find new housing. She said, however, that this was only a request she could ask of landlords, not an order she could impose.

“It doesn't mean that I can always force a situation, but I can ask you, because of what we’re dealing with, if you’re willing to give her a couple weeks notice to vacate,” she said. “Because it’s not gonna be easy for her to find another place to live.”

The first of the month is coming again. (There's one every month!)  The next few firsts of the next few months are going to be worse than this one. Unless somebody does something. Who can do something?

DeDecker, like Mabery, thinks that formal eviction filings will nonetheless rise over the coming months. Not only will CARES Act eviction protections expire, but the additional $600 federal supplements to unemployment benefits will run out at the end of July. Without those supplements, the maximum unemployment benefits that Louisiana residents can collect is only $247 a week — inadequate to cover the costs of living in New Orleans, critics argue.

“Extra unemployment is going to expire and the CARES Act protections are going to expire, and we are going to see a huge public health and housing crisis the likes we haven’t seen since immediately post Katrina,” DeDecker said. “Ultimately, reopening eviction court without ensuring that tenants can actually deal with their accumulated rent debts is a disaster. We need the state government, we need the city government, we need the federal government to step up and cancel rent and mortgages and supply enough funding to make sure people can pay their bills.”

Otherwise, a whole lot of renters are about to get the cops called on them. And the orders to vacate won't be delivered with anything like the deference the judges show to the landlords.

The first of the month is coming again

The city's ban on evictions is technically supposed to expire on May 4.  Which is to say you can be evicted this coming month for having missed rent while a stay-at-home order due to expire May 15 is still in effect. You could actually be evicted the whole time, if your landlord happens to be this particular sort of asshole. But pretty soon it won't make much difference.  It's time to pay up all that money you haven't been able to go earn or else hit the road.

That is, unless somebody does something. 

Thousands of jobless New Orleans residents unable to afford their rent due to coronavirus-related shutdowns are facing the end of another month when payments are due. And with stay-at-home orders still in effect, housing advocates are calling on city judges to extend the eviction halt currently set to expire next week.

A coalition of groups wants the 1st and 2nd City Courts to stop evictions until Aug. 24, long past when state and city leaders hope to reopen the economy. In a letter to judges sent Friday, they argue that New Orleans courts risk creating an administrative nightmare if they don't extend the ban due in part to federal rules banning some evictions until late July.

I dunno. August 24 doesn't sound all that "long past" the May 15 date in terms of rent payments.  Especially during the summer when nothing is happening. Especially during this summer when an extreme amount of nothing will be happening.  Maybe we should ask the judges what they think.

If judges restart evictions before Aug. 24, they will be forced to sift through paperwork to determine whether properties are covered under the CARES Act, Reed said.

The call to extend the eviction moratorium was signed by thirty-five groups, including Disability Rights Louisiana, the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans, the New Orleans Family Justice Center and United Way of Southeast Louisiana.

Veronica Henry, the chief judge of 1st City Court, declined through a spokesman to comment on the letter.

That's a shame.  Well they're going to have to talk about it at some point. 

Hey! Did you know that one of these judgeships is up for election this summer?  That's right.  When you receive your very convenient unnecessarily complicated mail-in ballot or don your protective space suit to step out and confront a (probably) well sanitized voting machine on April 4 June 25 July 11 (probably! we really hope!) you will find a  very long ballot to decipher. The very long ballot will, of course, include the names of several individuals who are no longer competing in a now irrelevant Presidential primary. Then, there will be an extremely long list of names you've never heard of belonging to people seeking positions you may not care very much about on the executive committees of the parish and state Democratic and Republican parties.  Only after you have managed to read all the way down to the bottom of all that, will you find candidates for First City Court Section B. (Currently occupied on a temporary basis by... get this... Nadine  Ramsey)  A few of them have already dropped out. As of this writing, the active candidates are Aylin Acikalin, Robbins Graham, Schalyece Harrison, Marissa Hutabarat, and Sara Lewis.  

Don't know anything about those folks yet?  Well, get to it.  You've only got three more rent due days to go before you have to make your mind up.