BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — One Bexar County mother of five says she’s being forced to move out of her mobile home park even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a temporary ban on evictions through the end of the year.
“We’re not bad people. We are good people just looking for our next home,” said Ashlee Hernandez, who has lived at the Jasper Mobile Home Park for three years.
Hernandez is among the handful of tenants still residing at the Walzem Road community, which the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office says has a history of code violations and crime.
“Housing isn’t even something I want. Housing is a necessity,” Hernandez said.
The CDC’s federal guidelines apply to renters for those who have an income of $198,000 or less for couples and $99,000 for single filers.
Renters must also show they’ve tried seeking out government assistance to make their rental payments, indicate they might become homeless if evicted and declare the coronavirus as a primary hardship for the inability to pay rent.
“To say you got to leave in 30 days, you’re like, wait a minute. I lost my first job to coronavirus and I didn’t go out and find a second job, I would still be right now without a job, so it is hard to be out there looking looking for another job after I lost the first one. It’s hard,” Hernandez said.
Christina Rosales, deputy director of Texas Housers, said half of the more than 200,000 renters in San Antonio spend at least 30 percent of their income on housing. Rosales believes more must be done to ensure Texas tenants are protected.
“Until Congress or the state or cities act this is just kicking the can down the road and renters will find themselves at the edge of a fiscal cliff on January first,” Rosales said.
Hernandez’s eviction case has been postponed to a date after Dec. 31. Many of the remaining tenants at the Jasper Mobile Home Park are being supported by a non-profit organization that has filed for protections under CDC guidelines.