Eviction moratorium uncertainty means preparing for anything
EVERETT — With a statewide moratorium on evictions set to expire on Aug. 2, housing uncertainty is rampant across Snohomish County.
For now, notices won’t be tacked to tenants’ doors and no one will be ousted from their home, but Snohomish County housing advocates and landlords are working to stay ahead of the curve.
“Under COVID, we are going to see people that we’ve never seen before,” said LaDessa Croucher, senior director of the Dispute Resolution Center, a wide-ranging conflict mediation service run through Volunteers of America (VOA). “There are going to be people at all levels of income whose income has suddenly stopped and these may be people who are accessing our system for the first time.”
Prevention services in Snohomish County begin with a call to 2-1-1. North Sound 2-1-1 handles client intake, evaluating a caller’s eligibility for services and connecting them to available resources.
According to Lisa Hull, the program’s manager, since the pandemic hit, housing-related referrals by the 2-1-1 line have risen each month as people battle to make rent, pay utilities or put food on the table. She said nearly 70% of clients connected to resources in May had to do with housing insecurity.
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