America’s Housing and Eviction Crisis

The Next Housing Bubble Is About To Burst But We Can Stop It

Updated August 2021

While states are slowly reopening businesses, millions in America and across the world are focused on evictions, homelessness, and affordable housing. Philadelphia and other cities have staged encampments to bring awareness to the homeless problem.

Covid-19’s financial crisis has uncovered serious issues and injustices primarily in poor, Black and brown communities. Simply put, America’s affordable housing pool is getting smaller as evictions cause homelessness to increase at a rapid pace. If drastic changes, emergency housing funds and eviction proceedings aren’t halted in the next 30–90 days, America may see the next wave of (avoidable) civil unrest that will affect almost every city and state. The problem has been brewing for years, but the pandemic has accelerated the timeline and put more people at risk.

Prior to the pandemic, over 500,000 people were homeless according to HUD’s Point-In-Time homeless data and millions of people were “a pay check away from being homeless”. With over 30+ million unemployed and more underemployed, the rent moratoriums only help federally funded housing — during the quarantine. This helped less than 35% of renters in America leaving millions of renters in need of affordable housing options in the next 30–90 days depending on when eviction courts reopen as quarantines are lifted.

If the government doesn’t intervene, millions of men, women and children face evictions, and will literally be on the streets! Most homeless and domestic violence shelters were already at capacity prior to Covid-19. As states reopen for business, the housing and utility protections end, but the financial crisis remains with 30+ million people still unemployed and businesses closing and downsizing. A potential tidal wave of evictions and homelessness is on the horizon but if Federal, State, and local officials work together they can stop it:

- Expand the moratorium on evictions and simply keep the evictions/landlord tenant courts closed until January 1st or until each State has extremely low new cases of Covid-19

Establish Federal and State standards and protections for renters that enforce habitability requirements and put the burden of proof on the landlord as a prerequisite to file for eviction AFTER mediation. This means only allow landlords in good standing can file for evictions. Landlords shouldn’t have ANY of the following before they file for evictions: *Unresolved repair requests, open or pending licensing and safety violations * Discrimination investigations, open or unresolved violations * Unpaid fines, back taxes, and penalties

Increase emergency rental assistance funds and allow payment until December 31st and guarantee payments to landlords within 30–60 days

Permanently expand income guidelines to help more working poor individuals and families and allow landlords to charge rent on a sliding scale and apply for reimbursement

As temperatures rise on the east coast, the pandemic progresses and mass evictions begin, there will be a surplus of empty properties. It’s a recipe for disaster for public health and safety. I believe WE ALL can help!

What Can You Do If You Face Eviction?

AVOID COURT — Try to work out a payment arrangement and apply for any and all rental assistance programs — some municipalities have eviction protections if the landlord files for payment. Be advised, some courts are still allowing evictions even if the landlord and tenant have an active rental assistance application.

Visit www.dontgetkickedout.com (thanks to Hasan Minaj from the Patriot Act — which is no longer available) Try https://www.consumerfinance.gov/coronavirus/mortgage-and-housing-assistance/renter-protections/ to find out if your property is covered under the eviction moratorium. If it is, you will still need to pay back rent — but still apply to rental assistance programs.

If your property isn’t covered under the moratorium and your landlord has filed for eviction, know your state and local RENTER’S LAWS and court date. YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE HEARING! Some courts have started Zoom evictions, if you know they’ve filed and you don’t know the date, CALL THE COURTS AND GET THE DATE.

Try to get a lawyer and show up to every hearing early and be prepared.

If you’ve withheld your rent because of maintenance issues, take pictures, put your repair requests in writing and send them to him via email or certified mail. You must hold your rent in escrow until you go to court. If you made repairs, bring receipts, pictures and if you deducted the repair costs from rent, you have to put the balance in escrow.

If you have a pending court date, try to get a lawyer or consult your local housing advocacy group and see how you can use the Warranty of Habitability Law to defend yourself if you go to court. Remember you HAVE to prove whatever you say!

NEVER PAY CASH — always use a check, money order or electronic transfer. You can’t prove you paid with cash.

What can lawyers, law students and advocates do?

If you’re a lawyer or law student, please donate your time and expertise to Legal Aid and local housing advocacy programs or reach out to court mediation programs to help self-represented tenants

Host a renter’s advocacy workshop on Zoom or in public parks or safe venues for community groups

Educate yourself and others about this issue and contact your local, state, and federal politicians to urge them to make this a priority and focus on people first funding and policy changes for affordable housing and homelessness (see what the government can do)

What can other people do?

If you have money, PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR OWN FRIENDS AND FAMILY, or donate to local homeless or domestic violence shelters or rental assistance programs. Most of them run out of money quickly — I donated to the Community Housing Fund (which is no longer available) and local funds that give the money directly to the person or the landlord.

Provide unsubsidized, affordable housing (it’s a tax break). Let a family pay what they can or donate the house to a local church or House Of Hospitality program so a low-income family has a safe place to stay. The income limits for subsidized housing are so low that the average low wage worker MAKES TOO MUCH to qualify.

What else can the government do?

MAKE MEDIATION THE FIRST STEP OF THE EVICTION PROCESS WITH A COMMUNITY REVIEW BOARD FOR OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Enact a Federal and state habitability decree and requiring ALL housing repairs disputes be resolved, scheduled, or in mediation by no later than September 15, 2020, or ALL open cases, unresolved License & Inspection violations, pending inspection dates or landlords that owe past due taxes will be dismissed and will face penalty of losing their renters or occupancy license in 90 days if the house/apartment repairs aren’t brought up to code.

*This is a fair and cost-effective way to keep people in their homes without a major government bailout. It will also help stimulate the economy with all the repair work and generate revenue from back taxes, fines, and fees. Most importantly it ends the cycle of predatory and vindictive slumlords and forces them to fix their properties which improve the quality of life for people.

After September 15, 2020, MAKE AND ENFORCE A FEDERAL AND STATE HABITABILITY CHECKLISTS to put the burden of proof on the landlord and stop retaliatory practice of wrongful evictions by landlords who don’t want to repair their properties.

Put the voucher application system online and expand the HUD income requirements for poor, working families and only pay landlords in good standing with taxes and repairs

Create a national public database of licensed landlords with their license status and violation history and collect, penalties and any past due taxes. Flag and make the landlords, all their aliases and affiliates ineligible for housing funds and ONLY pay to responsible landlords and make a Blacklist of repeat individual and business violators (slumlords) and make it public information.

Reopen banking services at local post offices so they can hold escrow accounts

Outlaw the renter’s Blacklist and any agency that sells the names of people who’ve been in landlord tenant court

Expand housing resources and funding for aged out youth 18–24

Allow landlords the option to charge sliding scale fee/income based short term rentals and provide gap funding or tax breaks for low-income residents

Create an infrastructure fund similar to the payment protection program to help smaller landlords make energy efficient system repairs to electrical, plumbing, and heating systems with approved minority vendors

Have a community oversight committee that monitors the landlord disputes and a community ombudsman to help with resource referrals and make sure that EVERYONE is supported and held accountable.

Increase rapid re-housing services by utilizing unemployed skill trade workers, YouthBuild and Job Corps youth to make needed repairs for empty HUD units

Enforce current housing laws, cite violators, and collect fines and back taxes

Safe, affordable housing should be a right! We are still in the midst of a pandemic and people need shelter to stay healthy.

In Part 2 — I’ll dive deeper. In the meantime, I hope this has been helpful.