On top of the dire shortage of affordable rental homes, the rising number of evictions has only exacerbated tenants’ housing issues. In 2016, landlords in the United states filed an estimated 2.3 million evictions against tenants—an average of four evictions per minute.9 Nearly 900,000 of these filings resulted in an actual eviction,10 leading to more than 2.3 million people being displaced from their homes that year.11 Like the shortage of affordable homes, evictions also disproportionately harm marginalized communities.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/reports/2019/10/02/475263/right-counsel-right-fighting-chance/
The authors try to make the argument that evictions somehow add to the shortage of affordable housing and tenants having attorneys to help delay the eviction would help.
The much more unpleasant truth is in delaying evictions, and thereby causing more loses for the owner.
Only the tenant that is not paying benefits. Tenants that are meeting their obligations are actually suffering as owners have to raise all rents to compensate for the loses caused by the few tenants that don’t pay or are destructive.
Evictions add to housing shortages? Really? Obviously if there is a shortage of available units, evictions are making units available to someone else who also needed housing.
However, providing tenants with attorneys with the intent of delaying evictions based on legitimate causes actually may be adding to the overall rental housing shortage. How so?
Mom and Pop: I’ve seen many owner occupant duplex owners refuse to rent their upper unit after a bad experience in eviction court. Often these folks let tenants get away with excuses and promises to pay until the tenant owes thousands of dollars.
Large investors: You can invest in the Dow Jones Industrials and have seen an average 8% annual return 1957 to today, 10% since 1926. With index funds your work is checking your bank account. With rentals its so much more. Invest in the next FaceBook, Microsoft or the next big thing.
The point that is missed by many is we don’t have to be landlords and every time a landlord sells out, the next has to increase rents as they now have larger mortgages and less capitalization.
