Advocates fear eviction crisis looming as renter protections set to expire

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A new report predicts an "eviction time bomb" in Silicon Valley when some renter protections expire at the end of next month.

Advocates fear thousands could be out on the streets if the government doesn't take action.
　
Affording rent in Silicon Valley has gone from hard to impossible for many people during the pandemic.

Through a translator, Carolina, a single mom of four, explained how worried she is. With no job, she's having trouble paying rent.
　
"At the moment she feels that once the moratorium expires, that the landlord may try to find any reason to evict her," the translator said.
　
Thanks to COVID-19, eviction moratoriums are in place in counties all over the Bay Area.

However, in Santa Clara County and San Jose, they're set to expire August 31.
　
A new report from Working Partnerships USA and the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley predicts a looming crisis when that happens.
　
"Our report is predicting an eviction time bomb of over 43-thousand evictions, which is 16 times the normal rate of evictions we would see in a typical year," says Michael Trujillo of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley.
　
And he points out that in Silicon Valley rents are already among the highest in the nation.

And when the moratoriums end, tenants will be asked to start paying back rent too.
　
"Most of these low income tenants who have lost jobs and are unable to pay rent, are going to struggle immensely to pay hundreds of dollars additional each month to be able to pay their back rent," says Jeffrey Buchanan of Working Partnerships USA.
　
The non-profits say there needs to be action: to extend the moratorium, to provide legal assistance to tenants, and to get congress to act on rent relief.
　
"We really see this crisis compounding what was already a very severe housing crisis," says Trujillo.
　
The California Apartment Association believes there is crisis too,
but sees a different solution: government rental assistance.
　
They say landlords need to be able to pay their bills too.
　
"Make rental assistance immediately available to make sure that the rent gets paid and, therefore the owner can pay their own obligations and there's no disruption in anyones housing," says Joshua Howard of the California Apartment Association.

Local advocates say if action isn't taken, the homeless population in Santa Clara County could more than double.

A federal eviction moratorium is also set to expire at the end of this week.