- Jun 8, 2004
- 3,210
- 64
Eviction moratorium stalls ethnic cleansing in New Orleans
by Emma Gerould
As we pull up to the apartment complex in a neighborhood east of New Orleans, all Diane's belongings are being thrown from her second story window. A worker in a forklift hauls them to the street, dumping all she's accumulated in a lifetime on the curb. This is a common sight in New Orleans, where evictions are soaring and what little rights tenants have are being ignored.
Since Oct. 25, when the governor's moratorium on evictions was lifted, court clerks say that 100 evictions have been filed by landlords every day. In the past two and a half months, the landlords have simply been posting eviction notices on tenants' doors for a hearing three to five days later.
When the tenants do not show up for the hearing because they were unaware of the summons, the evictions are pushed through the court system. If the court rules in favor of the landlord, 24 hours later the landlord can remove all of the tenants' belongings from the unit. Landlords, under Louisiana state law, are not required to send a notice to the address where tenants have been relocated post-Katrina. Even if the landlord wanted to forward the eviction notice to a tenant's current address, FEMA has refused to release evacuees' information to the City of New Orleans.
On Nov. 22, a decision was reached after housing lawyers filed a lawsuit on behalf of Brenda Brooks, a New Orleans tenant and evacuee who was never informed of her eviction. Although the decision does not help Brooks with her eviction, the decision helps future tenants fight their evictions.
The decision, which is being called an eviction moratorium, extends the three-day summons to 45 days, which gives breathing room for tenants and housing organizers. In addition, landlords must not only post the eviction summons but also send the summons to the tenant's current address. That means that FEMA is court ordered to release the names and addresses of the evacuees to the City of New Orleans.
According to National Low Income Housing Coalition, 140,000 units were destroyed in New Orleans, many of them affordable housing. Since Hurricane Katrina, the housing market has risen dramatically, causing a housing crisis.
Tenants who want to move back cannot afford the high rents. "People cry to go home. They tell us there is no place to go, but there is housing for us," said Sam Jackson, a displaced resident. "They don't want us to come back. They want to kick low-income people out of New Orleans."
Some residents received Section 8 vouchers from Housing Authority New Orleans but cannot find landlords to accept them because they would rather benefit from the private market. Even landlords who accepted the vouchers in the past are now refusing to accept them. Many tenants want to come back but cannot because they can't find a landlord to take their voucher.
New Orleans Housing Emergency Action Team, aka NO HEAT, a coalition of local housing groups, activists and tenants, has formed to fight evictions and the rising rents and support New Orleans residents' right of return. Using a combination of direct action and legal strategies, NO HEAT aims at stopping evictions and the closing of public housing - whether in the courtroom or through direct action.
Jeremy Prickett, a housing organizer who works with Anti-Eviction Common Ground, a tenants' rights group under the NO HEAT umbrella, explains: "People with money and power are exploiting this hurricane and trying to shape New Orleans in their image. They are not talking about rebuilding New Orleans; they are taking about revitalizing it."
The Eviction Moratorium is a step in the housing fight that local activists are calling ethnic and class cleansing. "This city can't make it without minority groups. Minority groups built this city," Ralf Lewis, a New Orleans tenant, exclaimed as he showed us a notice to vacate.
Emma Gerould volunteered in New Orleans during the Thanksgiving holiday with Roadtrip for Relief, which brought volunteers to work with Common Ground Collective. Email her at emma@thclinic.org.
http://www.sfbayview.com/121405/ethniccleansing121405.shtml
Peace!
Isaiah
by Emma Gerould
As we pull up to the apartment complex in a neighborhood east of New Orleans, all Diane's belongings are being thrown from her second story window. A worker in a forklift hauls them to the street, dumping all she's accumulated in a lifetime on the curb. This is a common sight in New Orleans, where evictions are soaring and what little rights tenants have are being ignored.
Since Oct. 25, when the governor's moratorium on evictions was lifted, court clerks say that 100 evictions have been filed by landlords every day. In the past two and a half months, the landlords have simply been posting eviction notices on tenants' doors for a hearing three to five days later.
When the tenants do not show up for the hearing because they were unaware of the summons, the evictions are pushed through the court system. If the court rules in favor of the landlord, 24 hours later the landlord can remove all of the tenants' belongings from the unit. Landlords, under Louisiana state law, are not required to send a notice to the address where tenants have been relocated post-Katrina. Even if the landlord wanted to forward the eviction notice to a tenant's current address, FEMA has refused to release evacuees' information to the City of New Orleans.
On Nov. 22, a decision was reached after housing lawyers filed a lawsuit on behalf of Brenda Brooks, a New Orleans tenant and evacuee who was never informed of her eviction. Although the decision does not help Brooks with her eviction, the decision helps future tenants fight their evictions.
The decision, which is being called an eviction moratorium, extends the three-day summons to 45 days, which gives breathing room for tenants and housing organizers. In addition, landlords must not only post the eviction summons but also send the summons to the tenant's current address. That means that FEMA is court ordered to release the names and addresses of the evacuees to the City of New Orleans.
According to National Low Income Housing Coalition, 140,000 units were destroyed in New Orleans, many of them affordable housing. Since Hurricane Katrina, the housing market has risen dramatically, causing a housing crisis.
Tenants who want to move back cannot afford the high rents. "People cry to go home. They tell us there is no place to go, but there is housing for us," said Sam Jackson, a displaced resident. "They don't want us to come back. They want to kick low-income people out of New Orleans."
Some residents received Section 8 vouchers from Housing Authority New Orleans but cannot find landlords to accept them because they would rather benefit from the private market. Even landlords who accepted the vouchers in the past are now refusing to accept them. Many tenants want to come back but cannot because they can't find a landlord to take their voucher.
New Orleans Housing Emergency Action Team, aka NO HEAT, a coalition of local housing groups, activists and tenants, has formed to fight evictions and the rising rents and support New Orleans residents' right of return. Using a combination of direct action and legal strategies, NO HEAT aims at stopping evictions and the closing of public housing - whether in the courtroom or through direct action.
Jeremy Prickett, a housing organizer who works with Anti-Eviction Common Ground, a tenants' rights group under the NO HEAT umbrella, explains: "People with money and power are exploiting this hurricane and trying to shape New Orleans in their image. They are not talking about rebuilding New Orleans; they are taking about revitalizing it."
The Eviction Moratorium is a step in the housing fight that local activists are calling ethnic and class cleansing. "This city can't make it without minority groups. Minority groups built this city," Ralf Lewis, a New Orleans tenant, exclaimed as he showed us a notice to vacate.
Emma Gerould volunteered in New Orleans during the Thanksgiving holiday with Roadtrip for Relief, which brought volunteers to work with Common Ground Collective. Email her at emma@thclinic.org.
http://www.sfbayview.com/121405/ethniccleansing121405.shtml
Peace!
Isaiah