End of quarantine leads to new housing crisis

LOS ANGELES - The number of unemployment claims is one sign of the impending housing crisis. Experts warn it's just a matter of time before residents find themselves either deep in debt or worse, facing evictions.

The moving boxes are filled to the brim at the apartment of Joel Hernandez. The family of five might need to move by Sunday.

FOX 11 spoke with Hernandez back in early April when he told FOX 11 that he had a three-day notice to move. That day, the landlord's attorney said that they were abiding by the Los Angeles eviction moratorium.

"They said no one was going to be evicted and everything, but then we got a text message saying in order to stay you gotta pay $1,500," said Hernandez.

That's a 50 percent increase in his current rent.

Elena Popp of Eviction Defense Network says the family's eviction is illegal. Officials court filings dropped dramatically, even though it's estimated 600,000 L.A. County residents didn't pay their rent. The eviction moratorium in L.A. City and County is currently set to expire at the end of June. But even on July 1, landlords couldn't immediately evict families like the Hernandez'.

Dr. Paul Ong of UCLA's Center for Neighborhood Knowledge studied the coronavirus crisis and how it's affecting the different communities. He found that African Americans and Latinos are hurting the most and unable to pay rent. His fear?

"By the end of the crisis, you will deeply be in debt, and again, these are the same workers that on financial edge."