Supreme Court allowing evictions to continue, how Arizona renters can get help

The Supreme Court's decision to allow evictions to continue amid the pandemic will be getting renters worried, but there are local resources available, Luis Lopez reports

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA,KECY) - The first of the month can be a scary time for people struggling financially. When the eviction moratorium was in place, it gave those people peace of mind. Now the moratorium is over, but the peace of mind doesn’t have to go away.

On Thursday the Supreme Court voted to allow evictions to continue, blocking a temporary ban set in place by the Biden administration.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many employees to work less hours or even lose their jobs.

State Representative Charlene Fernandez says the courts ruling will make things harder for residents.

“It’s very difficult, you have to have first month’s rent, last months rent, you have to let the new landlord know where you lived before, and they can decide if they want to rent to you or not, we don’t want people out of their homes and that’s why the Supreme Court decision is really going to hurt a lot of people,” Fernandez said.

But there is help available, Fernandez says that those who have case workers can ask to be pointed in the right direction. Organizations like the Western Arizona Council Of Governments, or WACOG can help.

"If I’m getting any kind of aid from the state government those case workers I would definitely ask them for resources to stay in my home, I would go to some place like WACOG here in Yuma, that is a great source of information, they would know where to refer you to."

Wacog has been running an emergency rental assistance program during the pandemic.

The program can help with rent and utility payments.