Coronavirus: Why US is expecting an 'avalanche' of evictions

[KY_EnviroGuy]

Coronavirus: Why US is expecting an 'avalanche' of evictions
By Jessica Lussenhop
BBC News

(I do not suggest you read this if you're having a rough day. It includes a number of very sad stories)

Read it here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53088352

Excerpts:

As hair salons, churches and restaurants reopen across the US, so are eviction courts. Advocates and experts say that an unprecedented crush of evictions is coming, threatening millions of Americans with homelessness as a possible second wave of the pandemic looms.
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The federal CARES Act, which passed in early April, froze evictions for renters living in federally subsidised housing or in property backed by government loans. Surveys estimated that in the month of May, nearly a third of renters failed to pay their landlords on time, and over half had lost jobs due to the crisis.

But as the country begins opening up again, moratoriums are ending and 40% of states no longer offer renters any protection. The CARES Act protections only apply to less than one-third of the country's 108 million renters. Missouri is one of nine states in the US that never issued any type of statewide moratorium or stay on eviction proceedings, leaving it up to cities, counties and even individual courthouses to determine how to move forward. As temporary protections are falling away, like a patchwork quilt slowly fraying, hundreds of evictions are already under way in states like Missouri, Virginia and Texas. That could be sending thousands to homeless shelters or to double up with family, at a time when coronavirus cases are still on the rise in many places.

"No court anywhere should be evicting anybody until at least the pandemic has sufficiently subsided," said Eric Dunn, director of litigation for the National Housing Law Project. "Most people being evicted right now - it's because their incomes have been disrupted during the crisis. Where are they supposed to go? It's not like they have money to move somewhere else."

Included in the article are some heart-wrenching stories from real, hard-working people that are the victims of cold, heartless corporations and individual landlords.

Why aren't corporations and individual landlords going to bat for these tenants with the government rather than booting them out on the street?

Unfettered, unregulated capitalism silences the voice of those that suffer most across the globe..... .....

[58Sunliner]

1. It should not be allowed to happen.

[brewens]

2. Eviction is not a good idea when you have no one to move in and take their place. Where

do they think the people with money to take those places over are going to come from?

[Rorey]

3. As a landlord, I'm hurting

One tenant hasn't paid since March, and another hasn't paid June yet. My rental income is what I live on. I'm not planning to evict anyone. I'm just hoping for the best. I was hoping that some rent aid would happen, or maybe a way for landlords to be compensated.

All I'm saying is that for small-time landlords like myself, this is devastating.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

4. I think everyone here is sympathetic with your dilemma and....

I'm glad you're representing the other side of the fence.

Are you able to effectively communicate your issue with local, state and federal representatives, or are you hitting a brick wall?

Appreciate all your input!......

[Rorey]

5. Mostly I'm trying to be patient.

I haven't contacted any government entities, other than sending some emails to legislators. I didn't receive replies.

I think that the tenant who is only late this month will be able to pay me. The other one probably won't. I touched base with her a few weeks ago to ask her if she had gone back to work yet, and she said she had. Then she asked me how much she owed. I told her I'd have to check my records, even though I knew the amount. And then I told her that I was hoping for something in the next stimulus package, so we could just wait and see what happened with that. She told me she did have some money, and I told her if she could at least pay this month's rent, we'd work out something. I think she's probably waiting until her payday.

The thing is, of course, I can't possibly expect her to be able to make up that back rent on her own. She was struggling before getting laid off because of the pandemic. She has lived in that house for a couple of years, and was sometimes late, but always paid.

I truly hate being a landlord. The deal when we started in this business was that I would do the books and legal stuff, and my husband would deal with tenants and repairs. Then we got a divorce and split the houses, and here I am.

I really can't bear the thought of evicting anyone, especially when their inability to pay is our of their control. Also, changing tenants is always expensive. There's always lost rent, and usually some refurbishing. It makes more sense for me to just forgive a couple of months of rent, but I can't do that too many times or I'll be ruined.

There could come a point where I end up liquidating my rentals. I just don't know what's going to happen.

[Blue_true]

7. Maybe with the tenant who is behind several months, sit

down with her and tell her your situation, that the rental money is what you live on, just like pay from her job.

As far as the back rent, maybe you can work out an interest free "installment" agreement with her where she pays 5-10% of the back rent each month until it is paid off. If you can do it financially, cut the back rent owed by 50% and have her pay the other 50% by the aforementioned installment method. They key is not to put her over a barrel where she is having to miss meals or medicine to catch up - but by talking to her and having her be honest with you - tell her that you know that she has struggled in the past, but always came through.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. On the other hand, landlords also have payments to make.

[Blue_true]

8. Yes.

Here where I live people that I know have bank loans involved with rental properties that they own. I am not talking about bigtime REITs, I am talking about average people that own a small number of rental units. One thing that I could never be is a landlord.

[MichMan]

9. I understand there are exceptions, but I thought the extra $600 per week would have helped

people who were unemployed to continue paying their rent every month

[KY_EnviroGuy]

11. I think the problem is that there's such a large number of people not elegible....

for unemployment and as the article pointed out, much of that expires in the coming weeks. Republicans have stated they're not willing to extend these benifits. The other problems is that most red states don't care about their people's well-being or safety and take up the slack where federal help is lacking.

From the article:

But as the country begins opening up again, moratoriums are ending and 40% of states no longer offer renters any protection. The CARES Act protections only apply to less than one-third of the country's 108 million renters. Missouri is one of nine states in the US that never issued any type of statewide moratorium or stay on eviction proceedings, leaving it up to cities, counties and even individual courthouses to determine how to move forward. As temporary protections are falling away, like a patchwork quilt slowly fraying, hundreds of evictions are already under way in states like Missouri, Virginia and Texas.

It's obvious Republicans are as usual, taking a laissez-faire "let them eat cake" approach to dealing with this crisis even when lives are at stake. They simply want to force everyone back to work with health risks be damned.

I found this handy guide on Speaker Pelosi's web site that helps, although I'm not clear on the dates when benifits started:

Link: https://pelosi.house.gov/how-can-i-help-you/covid-19-toolkit

More laid-off and furloughed workers than ever before (including those new to the job market) will be eligible for Unemployment Insurance and will see an additional $600 per week to match the average paycheck for up to 4 months of benefits.

This may help as well, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CARES_Act

Still trying to understand it myself and frankly makes my head spin....

KY........

[Xolodno]

10. Going to drop the other shoe.

There will then be a huge supply of rentals and when they can't fill those units...they will have to drop the rent. And when that happens, landlords holding out for a higher rent will see more of their tenants up and bail for cheaper housing.

We'll probably see an uptick on foreclosure's as well. Which will then lead to cheaper homes.