The Indiana Supreme Court is launching a new mediation program to help stem the anticipated flood of evictions by facilitating settlement agreements between tenants facing eviction and landlords trying to collect rent.
More than 30,000 Hoosiers who have fallen behind on rent because of the COVID-19 pandemic have applied for financial assistance from the state — nearly triple the amount Indiana officials originally expected.
Recently, in the case of In re Hitz Restaurant Group (2020 Bankr. LEXIS 1470 (N.D. Ill. June 2, 2020)), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois-Eastern Division held that a force majeure clause in a lease excused a restaurant tenant from its obligation to pay a portion of post-petition rent.
Orville Copsey, Jr., an Indianapolis attorney whose work helping many elderly and disabled clients stay in their homes earned him the nickname “St. Orville,” died Aug. 4. He was 88. “We have lost a true gem in our legal community,” one attorney said in tribute.
As Indiana’s moratorium on evictions is set to end in a week, legal aid providers are estimating the national price tag for helping tenants facing the prospect of losing their places to live will top $2.5 billion.
Indiana residents who have struggled to pay rent or utility bills during the coronavirus pandemic have one more week before the state’s protections against evictions and utility shutoffs end, despite a recent analysis that found that more than 40% of the state’s renters are unable to pay their rent.
As Gov. Eric Holcomb extended the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until mid-August, Indiana state courts increased their calls for residents and property owners to start trying to work out agreements that will keep families in their homes.
Another month passes. The coronavirus pandemic marches on. And Americans struggling amid the economic fallout once again have to worry as their next rent checks come due Aug. 1.
Indiana will keep its current coronavirus restrictions in place for at least most of August, with Gov. Eric Holcomb choosing Wednesday to encourage compliance with safety measures amid continued concerns about recent growth in the state’s COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Holcomb also said he would briefly extend a moratorium on evictions that was scheduled to expire this week.
In anticipation of state courts being overwhelmed with landlord-tenant cases once the pandemic moratorium on evictions is lifted, a task force assembled by the Indiana Supreme Court released recommendations Wednesday that encourage payment plans and alternatives to forcibly removing residents from their homes.
A moratorium on evictions of families in federally subsidized housing is set to end July 25, and Indiana’s moratorium prohibiting evictions is set to end July 31. Advocates warn a wave of evictions is coming that could leave many Hoosiers without a place to live, but because of how these cases are tracked, they lack data to how big that wave will be and when it will arrive.
When in-person legal education events became virtually impossible during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic chose to go virtual.
Marion County residents can begin applying for rental assistance beginning next week, Indianapolis officials said Wednesday. The coronavirus housing relief effort is expected to be among the largest in the nation.
Gov. Eric Holcomb on Tuesday extended Indiana’s moratorium on housing evictions for one month, through the end of July, continuing a prohibition put in place in March due to financial hardships wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Carmel landlord was properly awarded damages of nearly $250,000 plus attorney fees in a dispute over unpaid office rent, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday. The appellate court found no grounds for disturbing a Hamilton Superior Court’s judgment that discredited the tenant’s argument.
Indiana will use $25 million in federal relief funding to help Hoosiers struggling to pay rent due to the impact of coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Wednesday. The governor also extended through July a moratorium on evictions that had been schedule to expire at the end of June.
While still unknown how many families will lose their place to live once the moratoria on evictions are lifted in Indiana and other states, a leading housing expert says the best treatment is providing attorneys to represent those families in court.
Gap is being sued for refusing to pay rent for stores temporarily closed during the coronavirus pandemic. Indianapolis-based mall owner Simon Property Group said in a lawsuit filed this week that the clothing retailer owes three months of rent, totaling $65.9 million.
Legal aid received another $50 million boost in funding as part of the new economic stimulus bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, but while the measure is expected to stall in the U.S. Senate, support to appropriate additional money for legal services appears strong on both sides of the aisle.
In light of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Indianapolis Bar Foundation earlier this month implemented a new fund called the Crisis Empowerment Grant Program. The fund’s goal is two-fold: to put dollars in the pockets of lawyers who may be struggling to make ends meet while continuing to provide free legal services to central Indiana families through four local agencies.