Landlords argue that they are unfairly being forced to absorb the brunt of the financial burden of pandemic job losses. “Why isn’t food free? Why isn’t clothing free? Why aren’t all the other necessities of life free, yet shelter is being made free?” said Sherwin Belkin, a legal adviser for the Real Estate Board of New York, which represents property owners.
The government, he said, should provide vouchers to tenants who cannot pay rent because of the pandemic, and landlords should be allowed to use the courts to evict those who still do not pay. “Something is wrong when a private industry is being asked to take on its back what is really a public housing emergency,” he said.
Jul 05
Jul 01
On the Apartment Association email discussion board (free and open for anyone to join) there was a comment that the reduction in evictions “Seems obvious since couldn’t evict for 3 months.“
Yes, it was obvious to those of us actually involved in housing.
But, some folks and the media were predicting a “tsunami” of evictions after the moratorium ended May 26th that would push us way past prior-year eviction counts in a single month.
For example, the Journal reported: “Predicted surge comes true: Eviction filings jump over 40% in Milwaukee County and state” citing a single week over week increase, using the first week that most evictions could be filed after the moratorium.
Owners are working with tenants more now than ever.
Groups such as the Apartment Association of Southeastern WI and the WI Apartment Association are working with Community Advocates and Legal Action to find resources to help tenants pay rent in ways never seen before.
Both “sides” understand that owners need their tenants to succeed for owners to remain viable, and tenants need owners to succeed for housing to remain available and viable.
My company has pledged to attempt mediation before eviction and waived late fees beginning in April, a month before the moratorium.
We need to remain vigilant as the true economic crisis may come later this year if the economy doesn’t rebound and /or the virus does. Regardless of your political leanings, the one thing we can all do is wear masks in public. If they do work, and I believe there is a value in wearing masks, then wearing a mask will keep infection rates down and allow businesses to remain open. If mask does not work, no harm, no foul.
Jun 30
[Updated 7/3/20: The original count increased slightly (~1%) after June 30th due to evictions filed towards the end of the month, but not posted to CCAP until July. These appear to have been paper filings. While the change is insignificant in the overall impact, I wish to be as accurate as possible. ]
Evictions for the first six months of 2020 are down 32.1% in Milwaukee County over 2019, and down over 30% statewide this year over last.
Jun 28
The NYT article is title is “Lori Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, on who’s hurt by defunding police.” But it has a lot to do with rentals from what I perceive as a very liberal politician’s view.
I would take the Chicago Housing Solidarity Pledge as it is what my company is already trying to do.
From the NYT’s article interview with the Chicago Mayor:
As a result of what we’ve all been going through, a lot of us, I think, have been reconsidering some of the fundamental assumptions we had about our government and economic system. Have you? Are you thinking differently now about things like rent control? [6]
When I think about rent, I think about it in the context of the entire ecosystem. The problem is mortgages that have to be paid and the banks that hold those mortgages and whether they’re going to give any forbearance. I think about landlords who are under pressure to pay their mortgage, their utilities, their property taxes. I think about renters and how stressed they are, worrying about being able to pay but also about possible evictions and what impact that is going to have on their credit rating. So the way I think about public policy is not individual levers and solutions in isolation. I try to look for the balance. Many times, there’s a solution lurking in the center.
So where might there be a solution for helping people who are struggling to pay rent because the economy cratered?
One thing that we did here is we brought together banks, landlords and people representing renters into what we called a solidarity pledge.[7] It’s voluntary; it’s not mandatory. But we put a lot of emphasis on saying: “Be good neighbors. Give each other grace and space in this difficult time.” That means not filing evictions. Not penalizing people because they can’t pay their mortgages or their rent. Be engaged in conversation to find common ground. We heard from all the actors that they were engaged in a lot of these conversations already. But by me, as mayor, publicly challenging them, it moved a conversation that was in the backroom to a more public reckoning.
Don’t you think that a voluntary “solidarity pledge” could just give landlords the cover of paying lip service?
You’re underestimating the level of activism here in Chicago. Any instance in which people feel there’s been a deviation, they are not hesitating to call it out. But of course, not everybody’s taking the pledge.
————
6 Rent control has been banned in Illinois since 1997.
7 In addition to the solidarity pledge, Lightfoot recently proposed a prohibition on landlords’ eviction of a tenant without first allowing the tenant five days to deliver a “notice of Covid-19 impact” outlining financial hardship brought on by the pandemic. Delivery of the notice would then earn tenants an additional week for negotiation.
Jun 26
The House plans to vote next week, possibly Monday, June 29th, on the “Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020” (H.R. 7301).
This bill contains both emergency rental assistance,(good for housing) and a national eviction moratorium regardless if the owner has federal financing.(Very bad for housing)
https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/BILLS-116HR7301IH.pdf
Easy reading at ONLY 92 pages…
Jun 21
Desmond says eviction filings are rising. “In Milwaukee, for example, evictions are up 38 percent last week from where they should be on a typical week in June in Milwaukee,” he says.
https://www.npr.org/2020/06/19/880859109/zoom-call-eviction-hearings-they-ll-throw-everything-i-have-out-on-the-street
This is accurate for the single week chosen, which was the first week when most evictions could be filed after the moratorium on notices, and the courts having been closed for months.
But it is a grave distortion of the overall facts, even if you only look at the month of June.
The greater truth is YTD evictions are down 40% year over year in Milwaukee and down 34% year over year statewide. I expect as June plays out those percentages will close a bit, but we will not see anywhere close to 2019 eviction rates.
Landlords never “profit” from evictions. It is always a money-losing, stressful time for everyone.
Property owners and managers are now working with tenants more than before to avoid court as this is a hard time for everyone.
Jun 18
As seen on Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
Jun 15
My belief is we will find total eviction counts for the first six months of 2020 vs the first six months of 2019 actually decreased this year.
But maybe the alarmist view will help get more funding for tenants to pay their rent, which in turns helps everyone.
Jun 12
“We’re urging all owners to work with their tenants who are experiencing legitimate difficulties and are taking steps to apply for whatever help is available to them,” Tim Ballering, AASEW treasurer and managing member of Milwaukee-based Affordable Rentals Associates LLC, said in an interview. “We’re also urging owners that, prior to committing to a court eviction, they explore other opportunities to find another resolution.”
