INDIANAPOLIS — It has been less than a week since the moratorium on evictions in Indiana was lifted. Already hundreds of people have been served notices.
A survey of small claims court cases in Marion County found nearly 600 filings this week. Most of them are evictions. Rene Stansberry is one of those people.
“I mean just being in the pandemic, they should not be filing evictions,” Stansberry said.
She’s been living at the Abington Apartments for two years in Indianapolis but fell behind on rent when her fiancé was furloughed at the start of the pandemic.
“We haven’t been able to pay August, July, June or May and now we are going into September,” Stansberry said.
She said she’d prefer to stay but just doesn’t see how it’s possible now.
“I think the governor should make it to where it doesn’t happen again until the end of the year. Allow us to get caught up,” Stansberry said.
Amy Nelson is director of the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana. She estimates there could ultimately be hundreds-of-thousands of Hoosiers put out because of COVID.
She said the moratorium should be put back in place and wants the state to do a better job tracking evictions.
“We want the eviction data added into the COVID dashboard,” Nelson said. “I could certainly help us drive where money needs to go.”
Stansberry isn’t sure what will happen or even if she’ll be able to find another place to live.
“Even when you go to rent a home, if your credit’s not high enough you can’t get in,” Stansberry said. “So it’s scary to know that you could be living on the street tomorrow.”