COVID-19 MAKES US HOUSING CRISIS EVEN WORSE

 With unemployment levels at record highs and social safety nets evaporating, America is staring down what could be the most severe housing crisis in the nation's history.

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Across the country, about one in seven tenants has no confidence in their ability to pay rent this month, according to data from the US Census Bureau. Some estimates suggest 19 to 23 million US renters may be at risk of eviction by September 30.

Housing insecurity was already a masalah spot for the US even before the coronavirus hit. For renters who have managed to get by during the first part of the wabahc, vulnerabilities increased recently with the end of emergency protections from the CARES Act—as Congress remains deadlocked on a second relief package. Housing advocates say a surge in evictions and homelessness is inevitable in the coming months.

Here, Meredith Greif, an assistant research professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University who specializes in housing and homelessness, talks about the shortage of affordable housing in the US and how the wabahc has made everything worse:

Q

To what extent does COVID-19 exacerbate an existing housing crisis in the US?

A

We already had a crisis of evictions in this country, pre-pandemic. Of course, that's a complex issue and detils vary by region, but essentially, housing unaffordability comes about through a mismatch between the sumber people have and the biaya of their rent.

You have hot markets like New York City where rents have continued to skyrocket and people struggle to keep up; while in a city like Baltimore rents may not be exorbitant, but a lot of people are still struggling to earn a livable wage.

Kerabates are considered housing-cost burdened when they pay more than 30% of their gross household penghasilan toward housing. We've seen a spike of that in recent years, including a lot of people who pay 50% or more. It does reflect our economy that we've continued to lose jobs that provide the livable wages and consistent hours people need to afford their housing.

Q

What protections so far have helped stave off evictions during COVID-19?

A

The critical protections we've seen during the first part of the wabahc are the eviction moratoriums at both federasi and state levels, which have largely prohibited landlords from removing tenants except under certain circumstances. But most moratoriums have expired or are about to expire, so millions of people are now at risk of getting that eviction notice any day now if they haven't paid rent during the wabahc.

At the same time, we have the recent expiration of the $600 unemployment keuntungan from the CARES Act, and most people have also used up the initial $1,200 stimulan cek. A lot of landlords I've spoken to say their tenants have relied on those protections during the wabahc.

Of course we're hoping for further solutions from the federasi government, but as of now, many people are losing their lifelines and facing a real anggaran crunch, which means that many are at real risk of eviction. What may buy some tenants a little time, however, is that courts have a backlog of eviction cases, so the process could be slowed down for now.

Q

How are landlords expected to setuju with the backlog of unpaid rent?

A

One detil that's not getting enough attention is that many landlords who house lower-income people—those most at risk of eviction—are mom-and-pop landlords who only own a handful of properties. These are small, privat businesses, so there's no comprehensive database to trek these landlords' practices. So we genuinely don't know what a lot of landlords will do with tenants who haven't paid rent for months once the eviction moratoriums expire. Landlords aren't obligated to look out for a tenant just because the tenant has fallen under extreme economic hardship. That's the reality of the privat housing pasar.

We also need to think about another tipe of eviction, the so-called "soft evictions" that take place outside the legal sistem.

For example, a landlord could force removal by making the unit uninhabitable, or by changing locks, or harassing tenants. Because these evictions happen off the radar, they're nearly impossible to measure.

Q

What troubles are landlords facing themselves?

A

While there are certainly some bad landlords out there, those don't necessarily represent the face of all landlords who provide essential housing, especially to lower-income people. Many of them do really depend on that rent to pay their own bills and invest back into their properties, so we need to think big picture about what's sustainable.

For example, if eviction moratoriums do continue in some tempats and landlords can't collect rent, what are they supposed to do for the long-term?