Eviction moratorium ends leaving landlords and renters needing financial assistance

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Time is up for anyone who has put off paying rent during the pandemic as the state-wide eviction moratorium ends.

It officially ended on October 4, and one local renter says it was about time after the eviction moratorium was extended for months during the pandemic.

“It’s really tough to argue that the eviction moratorium should continue,” said McKale Berg, Rockford renter.

Berg feels it’s time to get back to normal with vaccine availability and job openings. Still, he worries how landlords survived without rent payments coming in each month.

“This pandemic has been just devestating for everybody for job wise for them but even the landlords to be able to afford their lifestyle that they currently live and stuff that I mean I have to assume that they would’ve had to go out and search for other work,” Berg said.

Winnebago County Board member Paul Arena is a landlord himself. He says overtime the eviction moratorium became a messy process for both landlords and renters.

“So what I hear a lot from landlords is they’re just selling their buildings, you know especially single family houses those are getting sold off right because there’s a strong demand for single family houses now so it’s just removing potential rental properties from inventory,” Arena said.

Arena says there is a federal rental assistance program that renters can apply for but he says renters unfortunately aren’t always using that money to pay their rent.

“This has been a never ending onslaught on landlords right so one thing after another, unjustifiably for the most part, I mean there was no reason to have the moratorium go as long as it did,” Arena said.

Arena feels it’s going to take time for renters and landlords to get back to normal and it may get worse before it gets any better.

If renters or landlords need financial assistance they can look into applying for the federal rental assistance program to help them with the cost of rent.