Yes, as you hinted at, the first thing to note is that the local government isn't necessarily involved in an eviction. Owners of smaller properties have been known to change the locks and simply remove or discard a tenant's property and then deal with legal fallout (if the evicted tenant can even afford legal assistance) later. In other cases, residents aren't actually aware of their legal rights and allow themselves to be unlawfully evicted. Also, some property owners are abusing the system as we've seen in states like California where they claim to be intending to sell or occupy the property to force tenants out.

In smaller communities, it's not uncommon for the local government to enforce their own interpretations or rules placed at the state and local level.

In short, evictions are happening, even if they shouldn't be in many cases. And as moratoriums expire in the near future, we should expect many more Americans to become homeless or evicted due to the failure of primarily the federal government but some local and state governments as well.

Washington State, as an example, has publicly spoken out about unlawful evictions and has warned to pursue legal action against property owners that violate the state's moratorium on evictions. For example, just one example from April 2020:

https://www.q13fox.com/news/washington-attorney-general-dire...

Washington State's moratorium is currently set to expire in December:

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/states-eviction-moratorium-...