ORLANDO, Florida: Marvia Robinson was dead tired from a week of overnight long-haul trips when she nosed her Greyhound bus into the station in deep predawn darkness. Still, the 63-year-old driver kept a friendly lilt in her voice as she said goodbye to the riders filing past her and stepping off the bus.
“Rough night,” she said minutes later, walking toward her Toyota Corolla in the parking lot. “I had to put two off in Tallahassee, for drinking, and then another one in Ocala.” She longed to go home to sleep.
But she had no home to go to. Nineteen days earlier, Invitation Homes Inc, the largest landlord for single-family homes in the United States, had evicted her from the one she lived in.
Last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the nation’s travel economy to a standstill, Robinson’s hours were cut, her pay dwindled - to as little as $65 for one two-week period - and she fell behind on her rent. By January, she owed $4,920.38. So she emailed Invitation Homes to ask if it would accept funds from a county program that gives landlords $4,000 in back rent.
In an email response reviewed by Reuters, Invitation Homes told Robinson the company was not participating in the program “due to the landlord restrictions,” without explaining what that meant. The company then sent Robinson an email with links to information about other government and nonprofit relief programs, as well as payday lenders, food banks, the Coalition for the Homeless and ways to make money by selling hair, plasma and donor eggs. On Jan. 8, the company sent Robinson a note asking for rent and additional fees, signing off with: “We’re in this together, Your Invitation Homes team.”
On Jan. 13, Invitation Homes sued to evict Robinson. Two days later, Robinson filed a handwritten declaration with the Orange County civil court attesting that she qualified for relief under the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national moratorium on evictions. That Sept. 4 order, reinforced by similar state and local measures, is meant to protect people who lost income in the pandemic from losing their homes.
In February, an Orange County judge approved Robinson’s eviction. On March 9, two sheriff’s deputies showed up at Robinson’s taupe two-story rental south of the city, bolted the doors and changed the locks.
Invitation Homes declined to comment on Robinson’s case. A spokeswoman told Reuters the company “preserves our legal rights” once it has “exhausted all other options” to challenge tenants’ CDC declarations.
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