Moving back in my trailer. Has covid-19 affected our legal status?

[Homeless in Canada]

I've been renting a room the past few months. Winter was wearing me down.

But I'm broke and can't make the rent.


What I want to know is covid-19 affecting the legal status of living in a vehicle?

I have a job so I don't travel. But I'm kind of worried that the Walmart where I parked most of last summer won't want me back. Or that cops are going to become more strict. I suppose the tourist traffic will slow down.

 

[trailer-t]

Well some places in US have a "stay at home order"-- or something-- or "shelter in place???" --wtf that means??
In my mind (a simple one) this is now off in uncharted waters that will vary by state or county or province if up in in Canada.
I bet it depends on the locality where you chose to park for the night. Strange days have found us.
But I suspect the powers that be -cops- may have bigger worries than some person sleeping out in a van-
----like lack of masks, ventilators , calls from infected people or co-workers that are critical. Yikes

Good luck to you.

 

[maki2]

It is city by city within county by county, within state by state within country by country substitute provinces, etc for state.

What this means is there is no uniform code regarding Covid 19 exemptions for dealing with people who are currently "homeless" as regards living/sleeping in a vehicle.

I do know that in a number of cities they have now started allowing (for the time being) more than 72 hours length of time for parking in one location because of the stay at home order as many people are not leaving during the day to go to work or out on other errands. That there have also been some temporary suspensions regarding longer vehicles being allowed on the streets where before they were not permitted at all hours of the day. There has been an up scaling of efforts to get homeless persons off the streets and into shelters with cities opening additional shelters and increasing the spacing to have social distancing inside of the shelters. In some of those cities it is against the law to sleep in vehicles, in other cities it is not against the law. That is unlikely to change just for Covid 19 although they might not aggressively pursue finding violators. But I would not suggest doing it in any city with an ordinance that forbids sleeping in vehicles as patrols have been stepped up at night in all the business districts to help prevent burglaries.

I doubt if much has changed out in the small towns and countryside except to get more strict rather than loosing up regulations. Doing that to keep out refugees from the large towns who might bring Covid 19 with them. On the Washington Coast towns have even shut down the motels and hotels, vacation rentals of all kinds including RV parks. No visitors allowed, we don't want you, we are telling you to stay away (for now) attitude.

But as I recall I saw on another forum in I think it was Bozeman Montana that they were allowing RVs and people sleeping in them to park on the streets overnight. It had to do with the mass migration of Canadian citizens heading north and US citizens leaving Canada coming back home. Double check that for yourself though as it is late and I am going to sleep now.

 

[DannyB1954]

The future is not ours to see. Doris Day Que Sera Sera

So many variables, but my prediction is as more people are unable to pay rent, there will be more people living in vehicles. I don't see a Police crack down coming, as the numbers will just be too large. Look at homeless camps. it is not legal for them to exist in most places, but there they are. For Canada, I think most will move to the West Coast to avoid freezing to death in the winter. Cold is bad enough, but freezing is a whole new level.

 

[LoupGarou]

Not that I know of. One needs to try to do their best not to appear destitute. Run a clean camp and maintain the appearance of their vehicle. A full set of hub caps can make a world of difference.

 

[Homeless in Canada]

We're supposed to stay inside except for exercising and running errands. And the rental board is closed so landlords can't evict anyone.

But the lease is in my roommate's name. If I don't pay he still owes the full amount. I don't want to screw him over so I already told him I would have to move out.

The other problem is even if I do get some relief money I don't want to stay here. My roommate is a nice guy and we're both quiet and respectful. But he visits his family and friends all the time. And he doesn't wash his hands. Not even when he goes to the bathroom or uses the kitchen. I've been disinfecting everything and tried talking to him about this but he's not getting the message.

Anyway I will go back to my usual spot at the Walmart and see how that goes.

 

[maki2]

It is pretty easy for a cop to tell if someone is living in a vehicle just by the type and amount of stuff in it. Which is of course why cargo vans are popular for urban situations.