Can’t Make Rent Because of COVID-19?

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid provides guidance for renters

As a new month begins and the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic makes it more difficult for people out-of-work to pay rent, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) is helping low-income Texans navigate their housing-related legal issues.

TRLA attorneys are available to speak to the media to provide accurate and timely information on the services available to renters facing a variety of personal and financial crises created – or worsened – by the pandemic.

This includes the following:

  • The Texas Supreme Court order prohibits residential eviction hearings until after April 19, except for cases involving an imminent threat of physical harm or criminal activity.

  • If a landlord tries to evict a tenant or change the locks before April 19, Texas residents are urged to call 311 or the local non-emergency number.

  • Lease agreements are still valid. Texas tenants should still pay rent if they can afford to do so. While court delays may slow the eviction process, tenants may still be evicted for failure to pay what is owed when the Texas Supreme Court authorizes evictions to continue once again.

  • Even if a landlord changes the locks on any Texas tenant unable to pay rent this month, that person still has the right to ask for a key and access to the property. If the landlord refuses to provide a key, the tenant may go to the justice of the peace in the precinct in which the property is located and file for a writ of re-entry.

TRLA is also available to provide information regarding additional protections recently enacted by Congress under the CARES Act:

  • For Texans living in federally subsidized housing, Section 8 housing, Low Income Housing Tax Credit housing, or housing with a federally backed multifamily mortgage loan, the CARES Act signed into law on March 27 places a 120-day moratorium on evictions for nonpayment of rent.

  • The CARES Act prohibits property owners from evicting tenants in those properties for failure to pay rent. Those protections will last until July 25. And, the owners must give such tenants a 30-day notice to vacate after July 25 before filing an eviction lawsuit for nonpayment of rent.

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid provides free legal services to people who cannot afford an attorney in 68 southwestern counties including the entire Texas-Mexico border. TRLA attorneys specialize in more than 45 areas of the law, including disaster assistance, family, employment, foreclosure, bankruptcy, landlord-tenant, federal housing programs, LIHTC housing, housing, education, immigration, farmworker, civil rights, and environmental law.

Our hotline is open from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (CST) Monday – Friday: (956) 996-8752 For more information on housing issues in the current crisis, visit www.trla.org/housinghelp

Contact: Shelby Alexander, Communications Director
512-374-2717, salexander@trla.org

Established in 1970, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) is a nonprofit organization that provides free legal services to low-income Texans in 68 southwestern counties. TRLA’s mission is to promote the dignity, self-sufficiency, safety and access to justice for low-income Texans by providing high-quality legal assistance and related educational services

Chris Ramirez