During the COVID-19 Pandemic, landlords were prevented from evicting tenants for nonpayment of rent.
Thousands of renters in Los Angeles County and across the country stopped paying rent months, and in some cases, years ago.
And landlords could not do anything about it.
Until now.
After a recent US Supreme Court decision (pdf), that moratorium is coming to an end, and landlords will soon be able to start unlawful detainer actions to evict tenants.
How To Stop An Eviction Due To Nonpayment Of Rent
Filing bankruptcy can at least temporarily stop an eviction proceeding if possession has not already been awarded to the landlord.
I say “temporarily” because if you want to stay in your current home, you will have to catch up on the past due amounts in order to stay.
It also depends on what stage you are in the eviction process (in legal terms called an “unlawful detainer”).
If the landlord has not yet filed an Unlawful Detainer (UD) action, the automatic stay which goes into effect when your bankruptcy case is filed, prevents the landlord from commencing the UD action.
But the landlord can rather easily get permission from the bankruptcy court to proceed.
This is called obtaining “relief from the automatic stay”.
Do You Want To Stay In Your Home Or Move Elsewhere?
The basic decision you must make is whether you want to remain in your current home, in which case you must catch up on the past due rent, or move out and not owe anything further to the landlord.
If you want to stay, there are different options available for curing the default (catching up) on the past due rent.
How Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Affects Evictions
Chapter 7, is a basic bankruptcy where you give up any assets which are not “exempt” in return for eliminating your dischargeable debts.
Usually all assets are exempt, but whether they would be in your case can be determined by your bankruptcy attorney.
Past due rent can be eliminated in Chapter 7.
So you can move out and not have to pay anything further to your landlord.
But if you want to stay, you are required to basically provide for payment of any past due amounts within 30 days of filing your case.
If you don’t, the landlord can obtain relief from the automatic stay to proceed with eviction.
How Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Affects Evictions
Chapter 13 is a bankruptcy for individuals and self-employed business owners.
To qualify for Chapter 13, you must have regular income and less than $419,275 in unsecured debt and less than $1,257,850 in secured debt.**
Chapter 13 enables you to propose a repayment plan to your creditors, based in part on your ability to pay.
It also allows you to catch up on necessary past due rent over a period of time (36 to 60 months).
Of course you have to additionally stay current with rent payments which accrue after your case is filed.
**These amounts are increased every few years.
Frequently Asked Questions About Evictions
Below are answers to Frequently Asked Questions about evictions and bankruptcy:
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Photo credit:
“OccupyHomesMN protest to defend a home against foreclosure eviction” by Fibonacci Blue is licensed under CC BY 2.0
