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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A long-predicted tidal wave of evictions is anticipated in Massachusetts as the national ban on evictions expires this weekend.
The CDC's federal eviction moratorium was put in place at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic to protect renters struggling financially that fell behind on their payments.
But the national order is set to expire at midnight on Saturday -- with no current replacement or extension in place. The state-wide ban on evictions also expired last year.
Housing experts estimate that the lifting of the ban will throw an estimated 19,000 renters who stopped paying rent during the pandemic into housing court starting next week.
That number comes on top of another 10,000 cases that were opened prior to the pandemic that will be able to resume.
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And it's not just renters who will be impacted -- data also shows approximately 28,000 state homeowners are more than 90 days behind on their mortgages, putting them at risk of foreclosure.
The change comes as the Delta Covid-19 variant has thrown several Massachusetts counties into the red and orange zones for virus transmission.
According to the CDC's data tracker, the counties with high transmission are Barnstable and Nantucket. The counties with substantial transmission include Bristol, Hampden, Plymouth, and Suffolk.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley have been pushing for Congress to extend the eviction moratorium, citing that many of the residents at risk of eviction are from communities of color.
WBZ NewsRadio's Mike Macklin (@mikemacklinwbz) reports.
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