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As Iowa courthouses reopen, evictions begin to rise

At least 74 Polk County families lost their housing so far this month.

POLK COUNTY, IOWA, Iowa — 22 evictions in Polk County were entered this month by the court in spite of clear violations of the CARES Act or the Iowa eviction moratorium, according to data from Iowa Legal Aid.

Iowa Legal Aid's team has been tracking evictions across the state, particularly in Polk County, since Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the moratorium for renters and homeowners would not be renewed in late May.

Polk County is home to the most renters in the state. Lawyers with Iowa Legal Aid reviewed the 255 cases that were set for a court hearing in Polk County last week to get a sense of what is happening across the state. Here's what they found:

  • 228 of those cases involved nonpayment of rent. The rest was a mix of holdover (staying after a lease was terminated), breach of a lease term other than not paying rent, or clear and present danger. The number of nonpayment evictions is generally closer to 95%. 
  • 78 cases were voluntarily dismissed before or at the hearing. It's likely that the cause will never be revealed. 
  • 69 were dismissed by the court because no one – neither landlord nor tenant – showed up at the hearing.

It is uncommon in non-pandemic times for no one at all to show up for a hearing like this. This number is in line with what Iowa Legal Aid saw in Linn and Scott counties, which saw the same high number of cases where no parties appeared at first, as many of the really old cases worked their way out of the system. If Polk is like Linn or Scott, the number of people actually losing their housing will increase as this number decreases over the coming weeks, according to Iowa Legal Aid.

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But what's most concerning about the data that Iowa Legal Aid's team uncovered in Polk County is the number of Iowa families who lost their homes. According to the data, at least 74 families were evicted. 19 involved agreements to move out, while 55 involved the court ordering an eviction. Of those cases, 22 involved evictions entered by the court in spite of violations of the CARES Act of the state eviction moratorium.

"We are very concerned about this," said Alex Kornya with Iowa Legal Aid. "Most of these involved situations where the tenant did not appear at the hearing, but because the CARES Act and earlier compliance with the governor’s moratorium are jurisdictional questions, courts should not be entering these evictions even if the tenant is not at the hearing."

Kornya pointed out that part of the issue with the rise in evictions is that many people aren't aware of the resources available to help them make payments, such as the Iowa Finance Authority Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Program, Home, Inc., and IMPACT Community Action Program.

"One of the things we have been trying to do is connect people with the resources that can help them..." said Kornya. "Because you look at those statistics and you know, a significant number of those were dismissed, but we're still talking about almost 80 families who lost their housing, maybe more. And right now that's especially scary."

Kornya said that although some people are being evicted in violation of the CARES Act right now, it's possible more Iowans will lose their homes next month.

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