Evictions Imminent --- what can be, needs to be done?
Last September, the CDC imposed a ban on evictions for non-payment of rent during the pandemic. The Supreme Court (5-4 ruling) has held the eviction moratorium was not authorized by federal statute and ordered that it expire July 31, 2021.
Congress has approved $46 billion to help people behind on their rents and landlords behind on their mortgages. State and local governments have dispersed less than 10% of the amounts allocated. Part has been due to inaction by state and local governments in distributing the funds; part is due to long and confusing application procedures with lots of documentation required, and some due to landlord reluctance to accept the payments and forego evictions. It’s a tragedy of overlapping errors.
The Biden Administration asked Congress to authorize the eviction moratorium to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling. The landlords and realtors lobbied hard against it and were successful in blocking its passage.
How many people are at risk of eviction? The Census Bureau says about 7.4 million adult tenants report they are behind on their rents and 3.6 million said they were likely to face eviction. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates 11.4 million tenants are behind on their rents.
The California legislature approved $5.2 billion (the federal allocations) to pay unpaid back rents (and three months forward) and extended the moratorium on evictions to September 30, 2021. To be eligible for rental assistance, a tenant’s income must be less than 80% of a region’s median income. Tenants with incomes less than 50% of the region’s median income will be prioritized if the funds are insuffiicient. Even if the landlord refuses to participate, the tenant’s eviction will be blocked if the application has been approved and the funds tendered.
Policy Link estimates that 758,000 households owe $3.5 billion in back rent in California. So the challenge is to get state and local bureaucracies to move expeditiously in acting on applications and dispersing the funds.
Lucien Wulsin
7/31/21