eviction

Several families and residents of Carriage Inn were forced out Wednesday because the hotel owner reportedly failed to pay rent to the landowner.

Not all pandemic victims walk on two legs. Four-legged victims are flooding area animal shelters. The impact goes beyond finding homes for dogs. Staff at shelters in Abbeville and Greenwood are squeezed for time to work with animals to assure they remain adoptable. Finding homes for humans is part of the problem. Eviction moratoriums started expiring in August.

Long delayed evictions are rolling out more than a month after the end of a federal moratorium that had protected tenants, including some who hadn't paid rent for many months because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is far from the tsunami many people predicted, but the lockouts now starting up are nevertheless devastating for families still trying to catch up while the pandemic churns on. Officials say some landlords seem to be holding off on lockouts so they can get repaid with assistance money.

States have begun to ramp up the amount of rental assistance reaching tenants but there are still millions of families facing eviction who haven't gotten help. The Treasury Department says just $5.1 billion of the estimated $46.5 billion in federal rental assistance, or only 11%, has been distributed by states and localities through July. Several states, including Virginia and Texas, have been praised for moving quickly to get the federal money out. But there are still plenty of states, from South Carolina to Arizona, who have distributed very little. The concerns about the slow pace intensified Thursday, after the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a temporary eviction ban put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The end of a federal freeze on most evictions on Saturday has raised concerns that thousands of South Carolina residents will be unable to afford their monthly rent and face eviction. The state and its largest counties have set aside $346 million to help with outstanding rent, utility payments and other expenses, but extensive federal rules have slowed the flow of money to those in need. Many South Carolina tenants at risk of being evicted will be left to find a new home in a tough rental market where almost 1 in 4 renters spend more than half their income on rent.

This story is part of continuing coverage of South Carolina's looming eviction crisis as the CDC moratorium winds down.

This edition of the South Carolina Lede for March 9, 2021, features: a recap of recent activity in the South Carolina state legislature; positive vaccine…

It’s been a bad year. You lost a lot of work because of the pandemic. You haven’t been able to pay the rent in months. And now your landlord tells you…

Update: The South Carolina Supreme Court announced it would extend the state eviction moratorium after this story published. It will extend the stay on…