AUSTIN, Texas - The City of Austin and Travis County have extended eviction protections for tenants until February 1.
Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown signed the orders Dec. 17.
"We know the efforts taken by the City of Austin and Travis County to protect tenants from eviction during this pandemic are working to keep our community more safe," said Brown in a release. "In the next few weeks, many Travis County families will be celebrating holidays, a vaccine will become available for our community, and at the same time increasing COVID cases continue to be a challenge. Now is not the time to roll back these important protections. We must continue to make the health and safety of our community our number one priority."
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"The data shows eviction actions like ours have saved many lives during this pandemic. As we cautiously enter the holiday season, Travis County Judge Andy Brown and I are extending eviction protections in the interest of public health, while also further pursuing changes to better address the impact on landlords," Adler said.
The Austin order prohibits issuing notices to vacate to:
- residential tenants who fail to pay rent and the amount is $2,475 or less per month
- residential tenants who fail to pay rent and have provided the landlord with a CDC declaration
- commercial tenants who operate a childcare business, live music venue, arts venue, or restaurant/bar
However, a landlord may issue a notice to vacate if the actions of the tenant, their household members, customers, employees, or guest pose an "imminent threat" of:
- physical harm to the property owner or their employees, or other tenants, including within the household
- criminal activity
- property damage that interferes with the use of a dwelling occupied by other tenants
Notices can also be issued if an insured casualty loss such as fire, smoke, hail, explosion, or a similar cause makes the property totally unusable.
The order also prohibits property owners from removing tenants' property or excluding them and prohibits the seizure of a tenant's nonexempt property subject to liens. Violating the order is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000.
Brown signed a similar order for the county, suspending eviction notices through February 1 for:
- residential tenants who fail to pay rent and the amount is $2,475 or less per month
- residential tenants who fail to pay rent and have provided the landlord with a CDC declaration and are included as part of the Justices of the Peace Standing Order
- commercial tenant who operates a childcare business, live-music venue, arts venue, or a restaurant or bar
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Adler and Brown say that recent research shows that evictions have been associated with hundreds of thousands of additional COVID-19 cases in cities without protections. In addition, according to data from the Princeton University Eviction Lab, U.S. cities with additional protections for renters, like Austin, saw far fewer evictions filed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Eviction Lab, Austin leads big cities in Texas in lowest pandemic related evictions and has some of the fewest filings in the nation.
- Austin: 725 eviction filings since March 15
- Fort Worth: 9,266 eviction filings since March 15
- Houston: 18,299 eviction filings since March 15
The extension comes after the Austin City Council unanimously passed an ordinance extending the applicability period and expiration date in requiring notices of proposed evictions during the December 10 City Council Meeting.
The City Council launched the $12.9 million Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants (RENT) program this fall and just approved $2 million for additional rental assistance during the December 10 City Council Meeting.
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