Protesters gathered outside the Stratford home Friday of a COVID-19 patient who they say is being wrongfully evicted by her landlord.

Demonstrators teamed up with fair housing advocates outside the woman's house at 1145 Barnum Ave. Friday morning while a remote hearing took place involving the landlord, the tenants, and the Bridgeport Housing Court.

Demonstrators say a woman who lives in the apartment and her mom are being unfairly evicted despite the governor's order temporarily banning evictions due to the pandemic.

Demonstrators say the landlord is trying to sidestep the moratorium on evictions, which is in effect through December.

They say the tenant, who lives at the home, has COVID-19 and couldn't pay her rent because she lost her job due to the pandemic.

Ra Shida Rattray, of the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, says it's just not right.

"This caught her by surprise, and the fact that she is ill, and she lives here with her mother who is now beginning to show signs and symptoms; it's just a mess," Rattray says.

Rep. Phil Young says he understands both sides of the argument since the landlord apparently wants to live in the apartment herself due to her own set of challenges created by the pandemic.

"And this is going to be an epidemic across the state so we need to as state legislators we need to kind of figure this out in a better form that will help the tenants as well as the landlords become whole," says Young. "This is not going to be a good thing for the entire state."

Young says the hearing was continued until next week, giving the resident extra time in the apartment. Young says more than 500 evictions have taken place in Connecticut since the start of the moratorium.

News 12 Connecticut reached out to the landlord and is waiting for a response.