As eviction moratorium expires, Phoenix area shelters scramble to prepare

By Elliott Polakoff

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    PHOENIX (KTVK, KPHO) — The Justa Center is a resource and day center in Phoenix specifically open for the elderly. And even though it doesn’t house people overnight, the end of the eviction moratorium has already created several headaches.

“We’re going to see an increase in people coming in for services,” said executive director Wendy Johnson. “We’re a seven day-a week operation, so it’s going to task my staff.”

It’s been less than 24 hours since the ban on evictions ended, and although people won’t wind up on the streets immediately because it takes several weeks to go through the eviction process, Johnson says she’s already received more calls from people needing a place to live.

“They have nowhere to sleep, and they have no place to move to,” Johnson said. “I get four or five enquiries a day for people looking for low-income senior housing, and there just isn’t any available.”

According to Grand Canyon Institute research director Dave Wells, it’s not just a lack of housing that makes things difficult, it’s the increased hurdles that those who are evicted face in once again finding housing.

“Landlords look at your past records, and if you have an eviction, it’s sort of like having a car accident,” Wells said. “The fact that it makes your rates go up, it’s really a problem. And it’s going to be a problem for tens of thousands likely as a consequence of the end of the eviction moratorium.”

According to the latest Census Household Pulse Survey, nearly 140 thousand people in Arizona are currently behind on rent. Both Wells and Johnson expect eviction rates to go up in the next two months, beyond what they were even before the pandemic.

“We really want people to stay alive while we’re trying to solve a bigger problem than one person can solve on their own,” Johnson said.

The Justa Center is working with government agencies to help those that are homeless get an emergency voucher at a motel. They’ve also extended their summer hours to close at 5 p.m. to help people get out of the heat.

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