Now that Congress has passed more than $46 billion in emergency rental assistance, will that money reach the millions of Americans who need it most — the lowest income earners and the most disadvantaged renters? and small homeowners?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently extended the national eviction moratorium, which will prevent tens of millions of people from losing their homes through June 30. Additionally, it’s important to make sure Ensure that emergency rental assistance funds from the two COVID-19 relief packages passed by Congress are distributed expeditiously and equitably to the lowest income renters and others at a systemic disadvantage in access to public benefits such as Blacks, Indigenous Peoples and People of Color and immigrants.
However, there are challenges to the distribution of these funds. Congress left some details of the rental assistance program to states and localities, which has resulted in unnecessary and burdensome restrictions or requirements in certain communities. Some programs provide access and support to tenants — online, in person, or by phone — and allow them to self-reflect their eligibility and needs, but others does not, making it impossible for some tenants to navigate the registration process. The amount of state aid is also inconsistent.
If these funds are not distributed as they were designed, the eviction crisis will intensify.
The CDC’s federal eviction ban has generally done what it was intended to do by keeping tens of millions of tenants stable during the pandemic. But despite its defenses, errors in the sequence still lead to an alarming number of evictions. Just recently, nearly 5,200 evictions were filed in 5 states and 27 cities tracked by the Eviction Lab despite a national moratorium on evictions for nonpayment of rent. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, evictions have been filed in most states, including more than 36,000 in Indiana and 21,000 in Missouri. In Houston, more than 27,000 evictions have been filed during COVID-19.
Now, as we enter the 13th of the pandemicNS month, the threat of eviction looms over nearly ten million tenants, who have lost their rent, affecting people in communities large and small, rural and urban. The hardest hit are communities of color.
Housing security and inequality: A decades-long problem
Just as Blacks, Indigenous and Latino people have suffered from higher rates of infection and death from the virus, they have also suffered the most from its economic impacts. This is partly because they have a disproportionate share of employment in the service industry, which has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic.
But it is also due to the long-term effects of structural racism and our country’s long history of discriminatory housing and lending practices. Discriminatory policies throughout the 20th century — including the implementation of rezoning, the creation of white-only suburbs from the 1930s to the 1960s, mortgage denials system against people of color and segregation of occupations — has led to widespread racial segregation of the population. These practices consistently lead to differentiated access to health-promoting resources such as clean air, high-quality schools, and job opportunities.
For example, city after city, researchers have found that people of color who reside in embargoed neighborhoods are more likely to live shorter lives, have lower incomes, and live longer. bear the burden of rent.
Inequities stemming from structural racism have also compounded the damage of COVID-19 in communities of color. Throughout the pandemic, Blacks and Latinos, many of whom struggled to pay rent before the pandemic, consistently reported low levels of confidence in their ability to pay rent. They are also twice as likely as white renters to be late on their rent and twice as likely to be evicted. All of this in addition to facing a significantly higher risk of catching and dying from COVID-19.
The threat of deportation fell on Black women, who were more likely to face housing discrimination and other forms of racism and sexism. This leads to loss of home, broken families and social networks, and countless negative physical and mental health consequences. It also results in an eviction filing that makes it harder to rent in the future. One review found that black women tenants had twice the rate of evictions against them than white women.
Health consequences of evacuations
Evacuations have profound health consequences and harm families in ways that will overshadow long after the pandemic is over.
While a safe and healthy home is the first line of defense against COVID-19, relocation often leads to overcrowding by forcing people to band together with friends or family. These arrangements are nearly impossible to comply with public health measures such as social distancing and self-isolation, creating a vicious cycle of housing displacement and health risks amid the pandemic. Translate. These risks persist despite vaccine availability because vaccine access is limited to communities of color.
Recent research confirms this link: deportation (and lack of deportation protections) is associated with increased COVID-19 cases and mortality. More broadly, being forced to leave the home is associated with a range of negative health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, suicide, emergency room visits, and exposure to violence.
Federal action to address this crisis
While a national eviction ban has prevented the displacement of millions of families since it took effect last September, it has failed to protect thousands more – pushing them into poverty. hunger and poor health.
That’s because CDC policy has been inconsistently applied across states, has loopholes, and hasn’t been fully enforced.
Tenants are only protected if they know about the moratorium and seek its protection. As a result, companies and other landlords continue to evict tenants who are unaware of the deferral protections available to them. Renters are often disadvantaged the most, such as undocumented immigrants or seniors without internet access, who both need the most and are least aware of security measures. defense of the ban. Some landlords evade the moratorium by finding excuses to evict other than not paying rent.
Because millions are paying their rent, only bold action now will avert an even worse post-COVID-19 crisis. That is why the following federal action must take place quickly:
- Enforce and enforce the ban on evictions by making the protections universal and automatic, applicable to all types of tenancies, and by making it clear that landlords cannot proceed with evictions during the moratorium. The administration’s intention to involve the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in enforcing the ban is encouraging.
- Ensure that emergency rental assistance reaches the lowest income tenants, people of color, immigrants and their landlords to prevent evictions. In January 2021, more than 9 million tenants were behind on their rent payments. Meanwhile, small and nonprofit homeowners, especially Blacks and Latinos, are struggling to pay their mortgages and cover maintenance and operating costs. Key strategies include: making the app simple, partnering with community-based organizations to reach and track who is receiving rental assistance, and refining tactics as needed.
But beyond this, we need change to ensure home ownership for people. This can only happen by advancing anti-apartheid policies and achieving the large-scale, sustainable investments and reforms needed to ensure that the lowest earners have a safe, stable and affordable place to call home.
More than ever, lawmakers must push for long-lasting, structural reforms in our country, many of which are outlined in RWJF’s recent housing policy brief and national advocacy work. of the NLIHC. These include the need for:
- Provides rental assistance and housing choice vouchers globally. Today, only one in four households eligible for rent assistance receive it, limiting their ability to live in stable, affordable homes or in neighborhoods. have a higher chance.
- Strengthen and enforce legal protections for tenants. The imbalance of power between landlords and tenants puts tenants at risk of housing instability and homelessness. Requirements for landlords to show good cause for eviction and the right to counsel all tenants facing eviction.
- Expand and maintain the supply of affordable housing. No state or congressional district in the US has a sufficient supply of affordable housing for the lowest income families. Preserve and build more public housing, expand the National Housing Trust, and use federal incentives or requirements to reform local zoning.
- Increase home ownership by communities and nonprofits. This approach allows residents to control key community assets, keeping neighborhoods affordable, and making it less likely that residents will lose their homes during an economic downturn.
- Provide emergency rent assistance to households in crisis by creating a permanent national housing stabilization fund. Millions of households need just one financial shock due to a tough economy that can quickly leave them homeless.
In just a few months, we have witnessed the power and ingenuity of modern science in developing multiple COVID-19 vaccines. We need that same strength and will to ensure housing stability and opportunity for everyone, or else our collective health and economic well-being will continue to be threatened.
Learn more about RWJF-supported initiatives and resources for the community work to ensure access to safe, stable, affordable housing for all.
About the author
Giridhar Mallya, RWJF Senior Policy Officer, is a public health physician and health policy specialist. Working to advance the role of policy in achieving a Culture of Wellness, particularly at the state and local levels, he sees the Foundation as “a national leader in synthesizing the evidence used used to shape policies that promote healthier people, communities and institutions”.
Diane Yentel is the President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a membership organization dedicated solely to achieving socially equitable policy that ensures those on the lowest incomes In the United States there are affordable and good homes.
