BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – August 26th marked the end of the federal eviction moratorium.
Officials expected to see a rise in evictions following the end of the ban, but one housing program says evictions only scratch the surface when it comes to the housing issues in the area.
“Unfortunately our community is in a bit of a housing crisis. Even for people who can afford housing who wouldn’t be requiring to have an affordable what we would call an affordable unit, they really just aren’t available,” House of Hope director of community engagement Beth Hudak said.
The House of Hope in Green Bay is an emergency homeless shelter.
The organization also offers housing assistance.
“Our community has a lot of resources for individuals who are facing eviction while they’re still in their own apartments.”
In Wisconsin, there were 19,427 eviction filings in 2020.
That’s compared to 27,026 filings in 2019.
1434 evictions were filed in Wisconsin in August, with about 955 so far in September.
In Brown County alone, 65 evictions were filed in August.
About 45 evictions have been filed in September.
Wisconsin Apartment Association COVID-19 task force chairman Chris Mokler tells FOX 11 an uptick following the end of the moratorium was expected.
“Obviously there’s been many months that landlords have not been able to evict so there’s certainly going to be an increase. A landlord certainly does not want to evict, they don’t make any money evicting tenants. But if a tenant is not paying and not taking advantage of Wisconsin Emergency Rental Assistance program, the landlord is really left with no other choice.”
Hudak tells FOX 11 residents to be proactive if they are behind on rent.
“Reach out for those WERA funds, the Wisconsin Emergency Rental Assistance funds, they are in our community, and the more proactive you are, the less likely you will be to actually lose your housing.”
She says evictions are only a part of the problem.
“One of the other issues is that for all of the funding that we have in our community to get people housed and help them stay housed, the federal government, housing and urban development, has caps on how much money you can spend on a rental unit. For Green Bay and Brown County, for the year 2022, those rates are going down. Which is going to price out even more units and make it even more difficult for people to find housing.”
Hudak says the fair market rent cap in Brown County went down 2 percent, nearly $100 below what the average rent is for two-bedroom apartments.
“I know that 2% doesn’t seem like a lot but it is significant when 30 dollars can decide whether or not you’re allowed to get an apartment, maybe the only one.”
Hudak encourages landlords to work with housing programs in the area.
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