Kalamazoo County faces eviction crisis

It’s been about six weeks since a statewide moratorium on evictions came to an end and fears of a wave of evictions have become true.

The 8th District Court of Kalamazoo has confirmed that there have been 395 eviction filings between July 16, when the moratorium ended, and August 23, according to a report on WWMT.

Many renters are having a hard time paying bills and the economy took a downturn during the coronavirus pandemic. But property owners also have bills and face going into default without income coming in from those same renters.

Austin Perry is a property manager for AIM Corporation, which manages rental properties all over west Michigan. He said some of their property owners have not received payments since the pandemic began in March.

“The owners of these properties have bills to pay as well. We have many of them that now have to reach into their pockets or reassess their personal conditions to make sure they can make their mortgage payment, that they can still pay taxes and utilities,” he said.

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