Los Angeles County’s eviction protections for tenants who can’t pay rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic expired two months ago, and eviction cases are starting to pile up.

Based on data from this year, eviction filings in March were higher than any other March since 2015. Eviction attorneys say filings have likely grown since the start of April, when the county’s COVID-19 protections went away.

“Courts are going to get backlogged,” said UCLA postdoctoral fellow Kyle Nelson, who studies L.A. eviction trends. “Usually when this happens, tenants are the ones that really don’t come out ahead.”

At the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown L.A., judges render decisions on dozens of eviction cases each day. Landlords almost always show up with attorneys, while tenants tend to represent themselves.

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