UP TO 40 MILLIONS PEOPLE ARE AT RISK OF BEING KICKED OUT OF THEIR HOMES IN UNITED STATES IN 2021
- isitelinc
- Dec 23, 2020
- 2 min read
Between 30 and 40 million people in the U.S. could be at risk of eviction in the next several months, according to a report released Friday by a group of housing researchers. The report aggregated existing research related to the housing crisis caused by COVID-19.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that total household debt fell by $34 billion, or 0.2%, in the second quarter. It was the largest decrease on record since the second quarter of 2013.
The drop in household debt doesn’t mean Americans are better off financially though. A separate survey from real-estate website Apartment List found that one in three people couldn’t pay their rent or mortgage in full this month.
The survey found that a staggering 50% of households behind on rent or mortgage payments in Arkansas, Florida, and Nevada thought there was a "strong chance" of eviction by early January, when certain moratoriums end.
The CARES Act, which was signed into law in March, allowed homeowners to pause mortgage payments for up to a year because of the pandemic. But they could face foreclosure if they can't pay when the law expires.
A November report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the University of Arizona estimated that 6.7 million renter households could be at risk of eviction after the moratorium ends. The authors wrote that "without federal intervention, this flood of evictions will disrupt their lives and cause severe harm to their economic, social, mental, and physical well-being."
The NLIHC report said the evictions would also result in increased needs for social services. The costs of "emergency shelter, inpatient medical care, emergency medical care, foster care, and juvenile delinquency" could spike, it said, putting further stress on local governments and public agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.
But experts have said that even if moratoriums are extended and unemployment benefits continue, that could simply be kicking the can down the road, delaying a wave of homelessness.
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