Wednesday, July 8, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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Imagine if everyone in Florida lost their housing almost overnight.
That’s the scale of an eviction crisis that is beginning to roll across the United States, where analysts say 20% of the estimated 110 million Americans living in rental housing are at risk of being evicted in the coming months. It amounts to 22 million Americans losing their housing — slightly higher than the entire population of Florida.
The safety net for those families is disappearing. Eviction moratoriums are beginning to expire in most states and enhanced unemployment benefits are scheduled to expire at the end of this month.
And unfortunately, Nevada is in line to take a direct hit. In a state afflicted with the nation’s highest unemployment rate, a huge number of renters go into the coming weeks facing uncertainty about whether they’ll be able to keep a roof over their heads. A study by the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project, a Colorado-based advocacy organization, estimated that 300,000 Nevadans are at risk of losing their leases by the end of the year.
That would have agonizing consequences, not only for the families who lose their housing but for every Nevadan. Mass evictions would further strain food programs and other social services that are already badly overtaxed. Many renters have little savings to fall back on, as wage stagnation and other factors left as many as 25% of renters paying half or more of their income on rent.
The damaging effects of evictions fall like dominoes, especially for low-income families. Eviction leaves them less able to find suitable housing in the future, as many landlords won’t rent to people who have been ousted over nonpayment. They’re forced to spend money to move or on court costs, putting them at further financial risk. Children are uprooted from school, disrupting their chances of excelling academically. Cycles of generational poverty are extended.
Meanwhile, landlords face a crushing loss of income, which would be a setback for the state’s economic recovery. It’s also a terrible situation on the commercial side, with property owners enduring heavy losses amid business closures and downsizing.
Congress must act immediately.
A first step would be for the Senate to follow the House in passing the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020, which establishes a national, uniform moratorium on evictions and provides $100 billion to help Americans pay rent. Elements of the relief package include funding for 100,000 emergency housing vouchers, $300 million in rural rental assistance, and funding for federal housing providers to cover increased costs and offer rental adjustments for households facing economic difficulty.
Disgustingly, the measure isn’t expected to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate, which all of a sudden has become resistant to more government spending. Yes, this is the same chamber that passed a $2.3 trillion tax cut in 2018 that sent the federal deficit sky high while benefiting mostly Americans at the very top tier of the income bracket.
Nevada, fortunately, is served by a pair of Democratic senators — Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen — who have fought hard for state aid. But if the Republicans scuttle the House relief package, it’s another reason why Americans in other states should vote out their extremist GOP leaders.
If Senate Republicans had any shred of compassion and responsibility, they would not only pass the House measure but add to it. Advocacy and industry groups say $100 billion is the minimum viable amount, and that as much as $144 billion in assistance will be needed.
In Nevada, state officials are working on a statewide rental assistance program funded by $50 million in federal coronavirus relief funding. Of that, $30 million would go to the residential side and $20 million for commercial assistance.
But the state can only do so much. Under its phased-in plan for ending the eviction moratorium, Sept. 1 looms as the deadline when evictions can resume for nonpayment of rent or for no cause.
Nevada needs more aid from Washington, and we need it now.
With the coronavirus surging in several states, including ours, it’s going to be a long and brutal battle to get the pandemic under control. Meanwhile, it will continue destroying lives both in a literal sense and a financial sense.
Any Senate Republican who denies aid to Americans is aiding and abetting this killer.
