A ban on evictions against tenants who owe more than three months of rent has been extended until Oct. 31. The new orders from Austin and Travis County officials also allow landlords, starting in November, to begin evicting tenants who owe more than one month of rent.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown extended the eviction bans as they were set to expire Friday. The two leaders intend to phase-out the bans, which have prohibited evictions of most residential renters during the pandemic, by the end of the year.
“Eviction protections save lives by stopping potential cycles of homelessness by keeping people in their homes,” Adler said in an emailed statement. “Eviction protections have helped Austinites stay housed amid economic uncertainty.”
Beginning in December, landlords in the Austin area will return to having most of the eviction rights they had before the pandemic, with a couple added steps.
A city ordinance requires landlords to give tenants a heads-up. Through the rest of October, landlords must give renters 60 days’ notice that they will be filing an eviction. Starting in November, that drops to 45 days; in December, 28 days.
These local rules apply only to residential tenants who pay no more than $2,475 a month in rent and to commercial tenants that run businesses affected heavily by the pandemic — including bars, restaurants and music venues.
Tenants also need to have exhausted all rent help before their landlord can go ahead with an eviction.
The City of Austin has about $16 million remaining in rent assistance, part of a program the city created with the Housing Authority of Austin to help people affected financially by the pandemic. The program’s remaining dollars represent a combination of federal and city money.
