Andrew Lee Nicole Cardoza Andrew Lee Nicole Cardoza

Stop evictions.

Landlords have filed for almost half a million evictions during the pandemic (Eviction Lab), and 15 million households are late on rent, owing a collective $20 billion to landlords, are potentially at risk of being put out on the streets. These tenants are disproportionately BIPOC (Colorlines) and LGBTQ+ (Injustice Watch).

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By Andrew Lee (he/him)

Just over a week ago, the Department of Justice defended a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium on evictions (MSN), extending eviction bans instituted by both the CARES Act and the CDC last year (Congressional Research Service). Despite DoJ support, this latest moratorium is contested by a lawsuit from a group of landlords. Even if the courts rule in its favor, it’s more limited than its predecessors, only protecting tenants in areas with “substantial” levels of COVID transmission (CDC). Landlords have filed for almost half a million evictions during the pandemic (Eviction Lab), and 15 million households are late on rent, owing a collective $20 billion to landlords, are potentially at risk of being put out on the streets. These tenants are disproportionately BIPOC (Colorlines) and LGBTQ+ (Injustice Watch).

Given this problem’s immense scope, it’s tempting to adopt a wait-and-see approach. But as millions face houselessness, we need to come together — not only because the courts might rule against the moratorium but also because landlords find ways to push tenants out even when it’s illegal.

“Renegade landlords” around the country persisted in driving out tenants unable to pay rent during COVID. In Oakland, one landlord changed the locks on the Castillo-Gutierréz family’s home and tore down the property’s fence flanked by unknown men on motorcycles (KQED). Since the moratoriums only prohibit eviction for non-payment of rent, some landlords tried to “skirt the law” by issuing eviction orders citing years-old non-financial issues (Inlander). After Missouri’s Tasha Tavenner was laid off, two men attempted to rip the door of her home, leading her and her four children to camp in the woods for five weeks. A renter in Ohio had the locks illegally changed on her house and the city trash bins so that accumulating garbage would force her to “voluntarily” leave (USA Today).

“There has been quite a bit of retaliation,” said Paige of the Bay Area’s Tenant and Neighborhood Councils (TANC) when speaking with Anti-Racism Daily. In one case, a landlord repeatedly refused to fix a home’s electrical problems until they ignited a fire. “People have been having to live without a fridge or a stove because the landlord is like, if you aren’t going to pay rent I’m not going to fix anything. I haven’t seen a whole lot of consequences even though this is illegal,” they said, adding that “BIPOC are the most affected by landlord harassment.”

“Once the moratorium ends, there’s going to be a massive crisis for non-payment of rent unless we forgive all that rental debt… Evictions have been happening since the beginning of the pandemic,” Max from ACT UP Philadelphia told Anti-Racism Daily. Those already evicted from their homes face evictions from shelters for minor infractions, as well as police violently breaking up homeless encampments. “The CDC said, do not evict homeless encampments during a pandemic. The city ignored that… They evicted a bunch of people who were staying safely outdoors, put them into indoor shelters, and an outbreak started a week after that. We’re pretty sure that the outbreak that killed someone was caused by that encampment eviction.”

Countless articles lament the plight of landlords unable to collect passive income but likewise unable to throw their tenants out on the curb (CNN). One op-ed claimed that canceling rent was anti-feminist because women landlords exist (Buffalo News). But a majority of rental units are owned not by small “mom-and-pop” operations but instead by large “institutional investors” (Harvard). There’s an immense difference between losing profit and being forced to move into the family car or under a bridge. The latter, incommensurably worse possibility is the one disproportionately facing LGBTQ+ and BIPOC people.

We can’t solely depend on continued moratorium extensions. Even with the moratorium in place, rogue landlords persisted in strong-arming and terrorizing tenants out of their homes. What we can do is support community organizations on the frontlines organizing to keep us all sheltered through and beyond the pandemic.

TANC is training renters across the San Francisco Bay Area as organizers to stay in their homes and “get through this crisis, alive, together” (The Appeal). ACT UP Philly is facing down police brutality (CBS) to “demand more plentiful permanent housing for Philadelphians facing homelessness, many of whom are Black and Brown and LGBTQ+” (Philadelphia Gay News).

“It’s a collective fight against gentrification and displacement across the country,” said Paige from TANC. “Try to find a tenant union, a tenant advocacy group, and see if they’re doing eviction defenses when the sheriff arrives to evict people, to document it and show solidarity. In your own living situation, don’t let your landlord walk all over you.”

To advance racial justice and keep all of our communities housed, it’s more important than ever to support organizations building tenant power with or without the moratorium.


Key Takeaways

  • A lawsuit threatens a new moratorium on evictions.

  • Even under existing eviction bans, tenants were illegally evicted by landlords and legally evicted from shelters and homeless encampments.

  • Tenant organizations are addressing a problem disproportionately affecting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ people.

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Renée Cherez Nicole Cardoza Renée Cherez Nicole Cardoza

Protect housing rights during COVID-19.

The coronavirus pandemic has and continues to wreak havoc on every sector of society, but perhaps the most pressing is the looming housing catastrophe. COVID-19, a virus that spreads through respiratory droplets, can be regulated with social distancing and quarantine measures, but how can it be controlled if millions of people are forced to live on the streets/

Happy Sunday! Each week we share insights on the racial disparities of COVID-19. I didn't think that when I started this newsletter on June 3 that we'd still be in the midst of this global pandemic, but here we are. And as we wait for Congress to pass a new stimulus deal, we need to do whatever we can to support our community in need. Renée joins us today with a critical look at COVID-19 and housing insecurity.

As we continue to cover COVID-19, remember that these disparities in critical infrastructure – like healthcare, education, housing, employment, etc – always existed here in the U.S. COVID-19 didn't create them, just exposed them. Taking action "during COVID-19" is only for emphasis; we should always do our part to help close these critical gaps in our society.

As always, your support is greatly appreciated. You can give one-time on our website, PayPal or via Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). Or, subscribe monthly to our Patreon to contribute regularly.

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

  • Tell your Congress representative to take action on housing stability by using this email template.

  • Support GoFundMe campaigns of people looking for support to pay their rent, particularly if they identify as BIPOC. Search by location to find individuals in need near you.

GET EDUCATED

By Renée Cherez (she/her)

The coronavirus pandemic has and continues to wreak havoc on every sector of society, but perhaps the most pressing is the looming housing catastrophe. COVID-19, a virus that spreads through respiratory droplets, can be regulated with social distancing and quarantine measures, but how can it be controlled if millions of people are forced to live on the streets?

 

Of the 110 million Americans living in renter households, the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project found that between 19 and 23 million people will be at risk for eviction by September 30th (CEDP). The project was created in response to the pandemic and the housing crisis it exacerbates by pairing legal experts with tenants who need legal advice or legal representation.

 

With a three-headed monster nearing: flu season, an imminent second-wave of the coronavirus, and colder weather, more must be done by the federal government to keep people safe and healthy in their homes. The primary federal relief bill passed, the CARES Act, established a moratorium on evictions for federally subsidized homes and homes covered by federally backed mortgages like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Bloomberg). While single-family homeowners with federally funded mortgages will receive reprieve until the end of the year, no additional safety nets have been granted to renters (FHFA).

 

Unemployment has reached unprecedented numbers in America, making it even more infuriating that people are facing eviction. During the Great Recession of 2008, unemployment peaked at 10.7% over two years. In May, unemployment reached as high as 14.4% (in 3 months) due to COVID-19 (Pew Research).

 

In July, 32% of U.S. households were unable to make their full housing payments, while 19% missed payment all together (CNBC). At the height of the pandemic, 44.2 million Americans filed for unemployment (Fortune). This past week, one million new unemployment claims were filed, which begs how people can pay their housing costs without a reliable income (CNBC)?  Making people choose between feeding their children and paying rent is inhumane.

 

Unsurprisingly, evictions have a tremendous effect on low-income women, particularly women from Black neighborhoods. A research study in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, found that Black women only make up 9.6% of the population, yet they make up 30% of all evictions. Nationally, 8% of Latinx women and 20% of Black women are evicted each year (Aspen Institute).

 

In New York City, 70% of housing court cases are by women of color head of households, particularly Black and Latinx women (Aspen Institute). Some of the risk factors contributing to women’s eviction are having children, domestic violence, lower wages, and even the power dynamic between male landlords and female tenants. It’s also not uncommon for landlords to maliciously evict people from their homes knowing their building is indeed covered by a federal moratorium (Washington Post).

  

Rent burdened, a term used to describe households who pay more than 30% of their income towards rent disproportionately affects people of color (Aspen Institute). Black and Latinx people make up 80% of national evictions (Harvard Law Review). Another study found Black households were twice as likely than white households to be evicted (Harvard Law Review). During the Covid-19 pandemic in Boston, 70% of market-rate evictions were filed in communities of color; however, those areas only make up half of the city’s rental market (Boston Evictions).

 

During the pandemic’s height, loss of jobs primarily affected people of color at higher rates than their white counterparts. And let’s not forget people with disabilities who notoriously have higher rates of unemployment, LGBTQ+ people who experience homelessness at higher rates, and undocumented immigrants who pay taxes but do not receive unemployment benefits or stimulus assistance (Aspen Institute).

 

These groups of people will undoubtedly experience the hardships that impending evictions will bring, and in some places, they’ve already begun. Tenants in New Orleans have come to find their belongings lining the sidewalk as federal moratoriums expired on August 24th (WSJ). With courts re-opening virtually, millions of people will be forced out of their homes in the coming weeks without help from the federal government.  

 

In May, the House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act, which would authorize a $100 billion fund relief for housing. Republicans have countered with the HEALS Act, which does not offer any housing relief assistance (CNBC).

 

Housing advocates and renter activists are pushing for states, cities, and counties to extend moratoriums on evictions to counter the federal government’s lack of action. The National Low Income Housing Coalition is calling for a national uniformed 12-month moratorium on evictions and foreclosures (NLIHC).

 

In California, Governor Newsom passed a bill that will ban evictions for tenants who’ve been unable to pay their rent citing financial hardship due to the coronavirus; however, they will need to pay at least 25% of their cumulative rent between September 1st and January 31st (KTLA).

 

Homelessness should not only outrage some but all. If this pandemic has made anything clear, people of color bear the brunt of this crisis on every level. It should also illuminate the areas in which the government we pay with our tax dollars should be far more useful in times of crisis.

 

Granting housing assistance to people who live in this country, regardless of their identity and sexual orientation is a fundamental human right and should be free of political gymnastics. As the temperature outside changes, there is work to be done for those being punished for no other reason than being poor in a pandemic.   

key takeaways

  • Between 19 and 23 million people will be at risk for eviction by September 30th.

  • Nationally, 8% of Latina women and 20% of Black women are evicted each year.

  • The National Low Income Housing Coalition is calling for a national uniformed 12-month moratorium on evictions.

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