Local, state, and federal bans on evictions are expiring, leaving millions of unemployed people at risk of falling off a “rent cliff” and becoming homeless in the midst of a public health crisis.
To prevent that, on 29 June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that extends a federal ban on all evictions and foreclosures through March 2021.
The bill also allots $100 billion to help people pay rent and sets aside $75 billion to help homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments.
The Senate is considering a bill that would also ban virtually all evictions through 27 March 2021, forbids landlords to charge fines or late fees for nonpayment of rent, and require landlords to give tenants 30 days’ notice before evicting them after the eviction ban ends.
The bill does not cancel rent owed, as some activists have called for.
Republicans, who control the Senate, are expected to defeat the bill as well as the one the House passed.
Independently, the Federal Housing Finance Authority has extended for three more months its ban on evictions by landlords with federally financed mortgages on their rental properties.
TREND FORECAST: We maintain our February forecast that both commercial and residential real estate will sharply decline in once “hot” cities. Businesses will downsize as more work from home and more people will continue to move from densely populated areas to escape violence, economic decline, and high costs of living.
