HELP - Eviction Hearing schedule

[Michael A.]

Hi Richmond area investors. Hoping someone with some concrete information can help me understand something. Was the civil court in Richmond hearing eviction cases specifically between June 15 and June 29 and not telling anyone?

All of the press and briefings by the mayor in Richmond up until June 15, 2020 seemed to clearly state that Richmond was not hearing eviction cases until June 29 after the State Supreme Court extended the eviction hearing ban. When June 29 came around, the same press outlets reported about how happy landlords were that eviction hearings "had now resumed." This implies that cases weren't being heard prior to that.

However, I called the Richmond civil court today to find out that they were in fact hearing cases all along! And my case scheduled for June 15 was both heard and dismissed outright because I did not show up! How is this possible? Am I an idiot who wasn't paying attention, or is something strange going on? I'm fine with either - just want to see if anyone knows anything about this.