Homelessness In America Is About To Explode, Here’s Why

A rental crisis is developing as epidemic eviction moratoriums finish and rent payment assistance programs come to an end nationwide.

Rent arrears amounted to almost 8.5 million individuals as of the end of August, according to figures from the Census Bureau. About 3.8 million of those tenants believe they will be evicted within the next two months, either somewhat or extremely likely.

Rents, meantime, have been rising steadily and for the first time ever in June, they exceeded $2,000 per month. Before the epidemic, Zillow estimates that rents had risen by 15% in the previous year and by approximately 25% overall.

Additionally, the number of evictions is rising in important American cities. The Eviction Lab at Princeton University found that in August, evictions in Tampa, Florida, were 52% more than usual. They were 90% over normal in Houston and 94% above average in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Many non-compliant renters are in a bind when eviction moratoria comes to an end. Nevertheless, some landlords are exhaling with relief after months of sheltering tenants who ceased making payments a long time ago.

When eviction moratoria permitted their tenants to remain in the property and not make payments, often for years, landlords in Southern California have highlighted the horrific situations they found themselves in.

One Pasadena couple said that their renter had leased a new automobile, regularly purchased new clothing, and had meals delivered, yet they had been unable to collect rent from them for months. Another couple bought a property in Carson, close by, last summer. They were still unable to move in months later because the prior owner’s renter would not go. Another couple in Riverside, California, was unable to move into their new home because the sellers remained in the property for more than a year as squatters.

One woman in New York made life miserable for her landlord, who was also her roommate, by living rent-free in the fashionable West Village of Manhattan for more than three years. This week, she was ultimately evicted.

The local government in certain regions, such as Los Angeles County, has also been slow to provide emergency cash to landlords who lost money when renters stopped paying.

According to Zillow, the typical income for renters nationwide is around $42,500, which is much less than the $67,500 median income for households nationwide.

Despite having modest salaries, almost half of renters saw their rent increased in the previous year. That amounts to nearly 30 million people trying to pay, sometimes over several hundred dollars extra every month.

According to MoneyWise, over 20% of renters are paying at least $100 more each month, and 4% are attempting to pay up to $500 more per month.

Due to this, various high-risk circumstances have arisen, such as tenants utilizing credit cards to pay their rent, withdrawing from their savings, or even reducing their retirement funds.

One judge in Maricopa County, Arizona, claimed to see upwards of 75 eviction cases per day.

Justice of the Peace Donald Watts predicted that this year will be one of the busiest ever for the justice courts.

According to Watts, landlords often desire to collaborate with renters.

They are in the rental industry, according to Watts. They don’t do evictions for a living. They are delaying as long as they can because they want to be able to retain those people in the apartments.