HOUSTON — Houston tenants unable to pay rent due to the pandemic have been evicted from apartments in numbers the city has not seen in recent history. However, those evictions stopped Wednesday evening with the eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But for some, it was too late.
Several tenants at a Spring Branch apartment complex had already been evicted.
Precinct 1 Constable Allen Rosen said his deputy constables served their final eviction notices Wednesday afternoon.
“As soon as the moratorium happened we stopped issuing evictions,” Rosen said.
For at least the next several months, deputies will not deliver any more evictions to those who have been evicted as a result of the pandemic.
“We as a community have to do everything in our power to help people get through it,” Rosen said.
CNN aired a story Wednesday night showing deputies serving evictions in Harris County. The images of unemployed tenants and families forced to leave their units amid a heat advisory, during the pandemic, struck a chord with those who saw it.
Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson tweeted on Thursday that he would like to be connected with the tenants in the story. He said he wants to help them get back on their feet.
Rosen said his office has been inundated with calls and emails from around the world those wanting to help.
In response, Rosen's office created a GoFundMe page to pay backed rent for those who’ve been evicted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“My goal is to focus on those elderly first,” Rosen said. “Because those are the most vulnerable in the pandemic. And then focus on families with small children. I can’t imagine having a family with small children and being put out of your home. I just can’t imagine that.”