There are those who see rental housing as a zero-sum game — the only answer to the COVID rental economic crises is to have the property owners absorb all the lost rent.
What we learned from looking at the September 2015 and May 2019 Milwaukee County eviction data that less than 2.4% of eviction judgments are paid even after five years, with less than seven tenths of a percent paid within six months.
So when you read of $50-120B in rent debt due before the economy returns, that means someone is expecting $47.5B to $117B will be borne by housing.
The right answer is for renter advocates and housing advocates to work in unison to get the funding necessary to prevent evictions and stabilize rental housing .
If the rent is paid, people will not need to worry about eviction, nor will they have to worry that rental housing will fail, also leaving them homeless and facing higher rents in the future. And let’s not forget the cost of housing foreclosures on municipal budgets.
