During Foreclosure Times there are More Evictions

Foreclosures are leading to more evictions. Till now in most of the cases the people are leaving without making a sound. But the mood is changing.

In Aptos when the deputies came to evict a tenant recently there were standoffs with the police that continued for hours. Road blocks had been set up. Finally the deputies of the sheriff decided to go away without taking further steps against the person residing in his Vienna Drive house. They would now return with an arrest warrant. The tenant neither threatened nor flashed weapons but just refused to budge and this lead to a sensation.
Deputies carrying out eviction orders are coming up with more and more resistance in Santa Cruz County. Sgt. Dan Campos said that it has increased since the recession began and has made their work more cumbersome and busy.

Since the previous two years eviction orders have gone up by 25%. In 2009 the deputies had to carry out 367 such orders. About a third of the houses were under foreclosure said Colleen O’Reilly of the Sheriff’s Office. The eviction figures were noted for the first time in 2009. But she feels that this does not give the true picture – there being more instances of evictions. More people are resisting when they are being asked to vacate the premises. She said, “Because of the recession, I think there are a number of people now that have nowhere to go and especially in the foreclosure evictions – that can be very emotionally based because they’re losing their home that they’ve been in for years. It’s hard for them to give up and to call it quits.”

But an outright standoff involving road blocks and police interference is uncommon. O’Reilly commented, “Most of the time they are amicable, but I think they need the proof of us actually showing up at the door to see it’s really happening. Reality becomes alive to them and they do go, but it seems, I think, lately that more people are hanging in there to the very end.”

The landlords get the court orders for eviction after going through the legal process. Often part time deputies are engage as extra help by the Sheriff’s office. A five day notice for eviction is served but after the end of that time the deputies together with the new landlord walk through the house to see that it is actually physically vacant.