The COVID-19 crisis continues to wreak havoc on the lives of the citizens of North Carolina. We fear that the darkest days are still ahead of us and we are asking for your leadership to help abate the effects of this pandemic on the most vulnerable North Carolinians.

We applaud the eviction moratorium E.O. 171 issued in October. It provided much needed protections to tenants from eviction and reinforced the temporary residential eviction ban put into effect nationwide by the CDC. However, these protections both from the CDC and your executive order will expire on December 31, 2020 unless Governor Cooper acts immediately. 

Stable housing is now more important than ever. With ever increasing cases of COVID-19 and community spread rampant, these next few winter months will be some of the most difficult times ahead. Without immediate action we will no doubt be experiencing an unprecedented amount of mass evictions and displacement. As stated in E.O. 171 estimates of upwards of 240,000 North Carolinian families will face eviction filings by the end of January 2021. This is a time when we should all be concerned with limiting the spread of this disease and caring for our loved ones instead of focusing on meeting our basic housing needs.

A vaccine on the horizon and a federal stimulus that may never come are of little comfort to someone facing an eviction, having utilities cut off or losing unemployment benefits. Governor Cooper can use his recently reaffirmed leadership position to help protect the most vulnerable among us.

Therefore, we are urging Governor Cooper to extend the eviction moratorium as put forward in Executive Order 171 until at least June 1, 2021.

For more information about this petition and our organization, visit us at https://www.wilmingtondsa.org/evictions