Oklahoma County sees more eviction cases after executive order
Oklahoma City, Okla. (KOKH) — An executive order ending certain evictions across the country for the rest of the year went into effect last week, but Oklahoma County Courts continue to see more cases on its dockets.
There are 143 eviction cases on the dockets for Friday, one of the busiest days since the courts reopened.
On a shortened four-day week after Labor Day, there are 388 eviction cases on the dockets, more than the week before.
One reason for the increase is that some were delayed to give tenants time to get rent assistance.
“It’s been a heavy, heavy docket week," said Jennifer Montagna an attorney with Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. "Part of its new cases. There’s also a lot of new cases that were carried over from one or two or three weeks prior, because a lot of landlords are agreeing to continue cases out, waiting for rental assistance."
Many of this week's cases were also filed before the new moratorium.
Still, some tenants aren't showing up to court, which can make it easy for them to be evicted.
Montagna says those evictions are not banned under this new order.
People still need to give their landlord a declaration saying they've tried to get government assistance, they've lost income and they could end up without a home.
“The moratorium prevents a landlord from evicting a tenant if they’ve received the declaration from the tenant," Montagna said. "It’s not an outright ban. There will still be lots of cases filed.”
In Oklahoma, many do qualify for rental assistance.
Some cases say they've been delayed for a "CCP" payment, meaning they could be approved for funds from the non-profit, Community CARES,
That declaration can be found here, you can apply for assistance through Community CARES on its website and Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma can be reached at 888-534-5243.