CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. — When Buddy Shoup was 6 years old, he remembers helping his mother hammer down molding in a home she bought as an investment property. 

 

What You Need to Know

Federal eviction moratorium is expiring August 1

Buddy Shoup is a landlord in Catawba County who owns 35 homes

He hasn't been able to evict anyone for not paying rent

Shoup has lost over $24,000 in unpaid rent

 

Now decades later, Shoup runs the rental property business his mother started. 

Family Home Rentals, LLC owns 35 properties in the Catawba County area. ​

Typically he has very few tenants who don't pay their rent, but since the evictions moratorium went into place, Shoup says he has lost $24,000 in money owed. The moratorium is ending August 1.

"This one tenant hasn't paid his rent in over a year, but three boats showed up in his driveway but no rent money. Another tenant also didn't pay rent for several months but continuously had Amazon packages delivered and new furniture and other things from Rent-a-Center. There went my money," Shoup said. 

Shoup said he couldn't evict anyone for not paying rent, only for breach of contract in their lease agreement. 

Shoup said when some of this tenants fell behind on rent this past year, he would point them in the right direction to community organizations like the Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry, which helped neighbors with utility payments and rent. 

But he said those programs are running out of money, if they have any left at all. 

"The money from the government, stimulus checks, all of it, should have gone to the programs so they could distribute it to people who need it for rent and utilities. It should never have gone directly into people's pockets," Shoup said. 

Shoup said he still had to financially keep up with his properties, installing air conditioning units, heat, fixing pipes, even though he wasn't getting rent money, because legally as a landlord he has to keep the homes in good condition. 

"I'm glad the moratorium is expiring. It should never, never, never have gone on this long," Shoup said.