Texas halted evictions due to virus, but what happens when the moratorium ends

EL PASO, Texas -- With the start of a new month, rent is now due once again. However, many are still struggling to get on their feet as the outbreak of Covid-19 continues.

The Texas governor's executive order protecting tenants from eviction is set to expire on May 18, leaving many tenants wondering what to do next.

"I’m hoping and praying that we get to stay here. My son was working but he had lost both of his jobs due to the Covid-19, so we couldn’t pay the rent for April," said Kathy Benavides of El Paso.

Benavides is not alone. Many other families have fallen on hard times in recent months, leading them to fall behind on their rent.

"In the month of April, we saw a decrease of about 12% of the familieswho did not pay. Most of them are hurting just like us - so we are working with those families, we are not evicting them," said Demetrio Jimenez, chairman of the El Paso Apartment Association's Covid-19 task force.

While Jimenez cannot speak for every single landlord in the city, his message rings through for the most part. But many of the landlords that are helping their tenants during this time are also hurting themselves, and they are looking for help from the city of El Paso.

"How are we going to pay our employees, how are we going to pay the maintenance that take care of these renters? We are in this together, both the renters that can’t pay and the property managers, we are suffering. The city of San Antonio allocated $7.8 million out of their CARES Act Covid-19 package, and they are actually helping the renters and the property managers pay for some of that rent," Jimenez said.

Tenants that refuse to communicate with their landlords might be jeopardizing their future at their current apartment once May 18 rolls around.

"That’s going to hurt them in the long run. They are going to hurt their credit and they are going to hurt their ability to rent other apartments. So yes, technically we could file for eviction on May 18. We don’t want to and I don’t think it is going to happen on a mass scale," Jimenez said.

Anyone wishing more information about the El Paso Apartment Association should follow this link.