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Hello Everyone:
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| Moderna Biotech ft.com |
Welcome to another surreal week. Some good news to report: There may be a vaccine on the horizon. Moderna, the Massachusetts-based biotech company, has begun the first round of human trials for the COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna is working with the National Institute of Health to develop a vaccine, known as mRNA-1273, that already has shown promise. Forty-five patients participated phase one of the trials, conducted at a Kaiser Permenante Washington facility in Seattle. Each of the patient developed virus fighting antibodies, fueling enthusisam that a safe an effective vaccine could be made available soon. Now this is something to be happy about. Being unable to pay the rent or mortgage is not something to be happy about.
if you are one of the millions of Americans who have been furloughed or laid off because of the virus, paying the rent or mortgage is impossible and not every bank, landlord, and management company is that sympathetic. Some states and cities, such as Los Angeles, California, have enacted eviction moratoriums that forbid landlords and management companies from evicting renters who cannot pay the rent because they are out of work because of the virus. However, the big question is what happens after the crisis abates and people can safely return to work? Today, we are going to take a look at what is behind the cancel the rent movement and what, if any, are the solutions.
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| rollingstone.com |
Rhetorical question, which is more important: food, medication, or paying $1700 a month on an apartment in Flatbush, Brooklyn? The answer for Donette Leftford, a working mother of three and owner of a small housekeeping business, the answer is all three. Ms. Leftford earns an average of $408 a week, when her company was open and rent is not her family's only expense. She told The Atlantic,
Medication is important to me. Food is important. Rent is important,... I just do the math. There is no way I can pay rent (theatlantic.com; May 2, 2020; date May 18, 2020).
On May 1st, May Day, Ms. Leftford and millions of Americans failed to pay the rent, in full, on time. Most failed to make the rent on time or in full out of necessity, unable to come up with the funds. There were others that failed to make the rent out of solidarity with the nearly one-third of renters who failed to make the April rent when the economy was in better health.
Over the last month, organizers in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, and elsewhere have coordinated possibly the biggest rent strike in American history, Annie Lowrey reports, "Nearly 200,000 tenants have stopped paying rent and are voicing their demands for rent forgiveness to landlords, politicians, and the media. It's not just that they can't pay. It's just that they won't" (theatlantic.com; May 2, 2020). The goal of their actions is to spur state and federal lawmakers into action to halt the evictions and provide rent relief. Strike organizer and housing activist Cea Weaver told The Atlantic,
We've been saying in the housing-justic movement, 'We're just one paycheck away from eviction,...It's true. And now everybody knows that it's true (Ibid)
Federal lawmakers, like Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), are paying attention. Rep. Omar has introduced a bill "that would cancel rent and mortgage payments for the duration of the crisis; the congressional rescue bill suspended evictions for federally backed rentals,..." (theatlantic.com; May 2, 2020). Cancelling the rent sounds like a radical notion but it would help low-income families stay solvent, stabilize the housing market, and reduce the severity of the recession. In one respect, cancelling the rent and mortgage, as radical as it sounds, may be a too modest demand. Ms. Lowrey writes, "This is asudden housing crisis that has collided with a slow-boiling, structural housing crisis. Even before the viral recession hit, high housing costs were leading to homelessness, long commute times, food insecurity, and diminished household savings" (Ibid). In short, "the rent's too damn high" and government needs to do something about. Rent strikes are only the beginning.
United for a New Economy is a nonprofit organization that is working to cancel the rent in state of Colorado. Laura Rodriguez, a renter in Aurora and activist, explained the group's demands to CityLab,
I would like for [Colorado Governor Jared] Polis to be bold. Stop evictions, the foreclosures, stop the rent increases, and late fees and disconnection of utilities,... To stop all that, to be able to get back on our feet, at least until this pandemic is over (citylab.com; Apr. 29, 2020; date accessed May 17, 2020)
Laura Rodriguez and her family are currently sheltering in place. Her husband operates the family's small business, he is a painter, usually a subcontractor. The company owes him payment for some recent jobs however the office is closed and the check has not come as well as the federal aid (Ibid). Instead,
We've got two disconnection notices already,... We did pay April's rent, but I'm not sure what's going to happen with May and whatever other months we still have to cover until the pandemic is under control and we can actually go back to work (Ibid).
United for a New Economy is part of a grassroots initiative to compel lawmakers, at all levels of government, to level off rents nows. This is part of a newly launched national effort, under the banner Our Homes, Our Health, bring "together housing groups, community organizers and tenant advocages to convince federal, state and local lawmakers to to suspend all rent and mortgage payments during the pandemic" (citylab.com; Apr. 29, 2020). "No other approach will work," (Ibid) say advocates with the National Housing Justice Grassroots Table, a coalition that included the Center for Popular Democracy, People's Action, Partnership for Working Families, and Right to the City Alliance. Both Representatives Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) support the movement. Our Homes, Our Health are looking toward the post-pandemic future.
The men and women behind Our Homes, Our Health are vigorously advocating to make rents more equitable once it is safe to go outside again. Policy Link senior associate Chris Schildt told CityLab writer Kriston Capps,
Going back to the status quo of how things were working before the pandemic is not a solution for a lot of low-income familes and people of color,... The status quo was a perennial crisis (Ibid)
The organization combines both longtime left-wing policy goals, pushing for social housing with safeguards specific to the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic specific measures include the cancellation of rent on all manner of rental units and expanding emergency shelter options for homeless men and women, Once the initial crisis eases, their goals are a moratorium on rent increases and other rent control policies. Another goal is tenants' ability to (annually?) renew their leases. Many of their agenda items are in line with Eviction Lab's Covid-19 Housing Policy Scorecard.
Princeton University's Eviction Lab is home to the first nationwide database of evictions (evictionlab.org; date accessed May 20, 2020). Eviction Lab ranks Colorado among the worst in terms of eviction protections. United for a New Economy activist Laura Rodriguez lamented,
As soon as this pandemic stops, these people [who receive eviction notices] are still going to get evicted,... In fact, it could happen much sooner (citylab.com; Apr. 29, 2020).
Our Homes, Our Health long term agenda "recommends a mix of existing tenant protections (such as just-cause evictions and a right to eviction counsel) plus deeper structural changes (requiring or persuading banks and landlords to sell foreclosed properties to community trusts)" (Ibid). Mr. Capps observes, "A few of the proposals enter the range of the fantastical--such as using eminent domain to 'target AirBnbs, luxury housing, and corporate landlords" (Ibid). Yours Truly agrees with Mr. Capps' observations however finds merit with just-cause evictions, the right to eviction counsel, and selling foreclosed properties to community trusts. Another viable option is renting homes, on the brink of foreclosure, back to their owners.
Our Homes, Our Health concides the strain on landlords, the majority of whom are small mom-and-pop operations that work on slim margins. The organization calls on state and federal lawmakers to forgive rents and forebear mortgage payments (citylab.com; Apr. 29, 2020). Kriston Capps admits, "While this strategy could have unpredictable consequences for the banking system, the Federal Reserve has already promised to backstop mortgage-back bonds. The campaign's platform describes a host of policies--Buy Outs Not Bailouts (citylab.com; Apr. 29, 2020)--"to purchase distressed properties from landlords and transfer their ownership to public entities. The idea is to make social housing, not corporate speculation, the most likely outcome of coronavirus-related market chaos" (Ibid).
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| daily.jstor.org |
We've been saying in the housing-justic movement, 'We're just one paycheck away from eviction,...It's true. And now everybody knows that it's true (Ibid)
Federal lawmakers, like Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), are paying attention. Rep. Omar has introduced a bill "that would cancel rent and mortgage payments for the duration of the crisis; the congressional rescue bill suspended evictions for federally backed rentals,..." (theatlantic.com; May 2, 2020). Cancelling the rent sounds like a radical notion but it would help low-income families stay solvent, stabilize the housing market, and reduce the severity of the recession. In one respect, cancelling the rent and mortgage, as radical as it sounds, may be a too modest demand. Ms. Lowrey writes, "This is asudden housing crisis that has collided with a slow-boiling, structural housing crisis. Even before the viral recession hit, high housing costs were leading to homelessness, long commute times, food insecurity, and diminished household savings" (Ibid). In short, "the rent's too damn high" and government needs to do something about. Rent strikes are only the beginning.
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| populardemocracy.org |
United for a New Economy is a nonprofit organization that is working to cancel the rent in state of Colorado. Laura Rodriguez, a renter in Aurora and activist, explained the group's demands to CityLab,
I would like for [Colorado Governor Jared] Polis to be bold. Stop evictions, the foreclosures, stop the rent increases, and late fees and disconnection of utilities,... To stop all that, to be able to get back on our feet, at least until this pandemic is over (citylab.com; Apr. 29, 2020; date accessed May 17, 2020)
Laura Rodriguez and her family are currently sheltering in place. Her husband operates the family's small business, he is a painter, usually a subcontractor. The company owes him payment for some recent jobs however the office is closed and the check has not come as well as the federal aid (Ibid). Instead,
We've got two disconnection notices already,... We did pay April's rent, but I'm not sure what's going to happen with May and whatever other months we still have to cover until the pandemic is under control and we can actually go back to work (Ibid).
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| ourhomesourhealth.org |
| socialistalternative.org |
The men and women behind Our Homes, Our Health are vigorously advocating to make rents more equitable once it is safe to go outside again. Policy Link senior associate Chris Schildt told CityLab writer Kriston Capps,
Going back to the status quo of how things were working before the pandemic is not a solution for a lot of low-income familes and people of color,... The status quo was a perennial crisis (Ibid)
| gs.google |
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| Eviction Lab Scorecard evictionlab.org |
As soon as this pandemic stops, these people [who receive eviction notices] are still going to get evicted,... In fact, it could happen much sooner (citylab.com; Apr. 29, 2020).
Our Homes, Our Health long term agenda "recommends a mix of existing tenant protections (such as just-cause evictions and a right to eviction counsel) plus deeper structural changes (requiring or persuading banks and landlords to sell foreclosed properties to community trusts)" (Ibid). Mr. Capps observes, "A few of the proposals enter the range of the fantastical--such as using eminent domain to 'target AirBnbs, luxury housing, and corporate landlords" (Ibid). Yours Truly agrees with Mr. Capps' observations however finds merit with just-cause evictions, the right to eviction counsel, and selling foreclosed properties to community trusts. Another viable option is renting homes, on the brink of foreclosure, back to their owners.
| realwealthnetwork.com |
Other housing professionals have suggested "that the best way to avoid any potentially disastrous unintended consequences to to keep money flowing through the system--to have government provide relief to renters, who in turn lift up landlords, banks bond-holders, and other pillars of the economy simply by paying the rent" (Ibid). However socialist organizers who dream of decommodifying the housing market are more incline to view the pandemic crisis as "an opportunity for creative destruction--a ladder out of the chaos that both rescues tenants and fundamentally changes their disposition" (citylab.com; Apr. 29, 2020).
| newyorker.com |
Typically, keeping the money flowing through the system is crucial to keeping any economy in good health but we are not living in typical times at the moment. As of writing, "...thirty-three million people have for unemployment, and the future of millions more hangs in the balance. April's unemployment rate was nearly fifteen per cent" (newyorker.com; May 12, 2020; date accessed May 20, 2020). Unemployment prospects look grim, "The Congressional Budget Office has projected that by the fall, the official unemployment rate could rise even higher, to sixteen per cent (newyorker.com; May 12, 2020). Thus, keeping the money flowing through the system in the traditional way no longer works. The threadbare social safety net: unemployment, assistance, Medicaid, or cash assistance for food can mean the difference between destitution and keeping one's head above water but there is little, if any, in the way of programs for emergency shelter. For example, last month the Chicago Department of Housing offered a one-time-only thousand dollar grant to two thousand resident who need help with the rent; the agency was flooded with 83,000 applications within five-days (newyorker.com; May 12, 2020).
The twin crisis of stagnant wages and escalating rents predate the pandemic. "Forty-seven per cent of renter households in the U.S. were already 'cost-burdened,' meaning that they pay at least thirty per cent of their income in rent" (Ibid). Further, twenty-five percent of renter are "severly" cost-burdened, meaning half their income goes toward housing costs (Ibid). This burden is particulaly accute in working-class or low-income communities. The real estate market likes to pat itself on the back over being a "race-neutral space, guided only by supply and demand, but more than a century of racial discrimination and residential segregation, rooted in the government-inspired perceptions that African-Americans poses an existential threat to property values,..." (Ibid).
Historically, low-cost housing were a working-class family's entry point to homeownership. Many of the properties have been converted to rental properties, limiting the means to attain a valuable wealth-building asset. Thus, African-American and LatinX families are particularly vulnerable to the flucuating rental market or nefarious landlands.
The point Yours Truly is trying to make is that the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the systemic inequities in the housing market. The rent strikes and piecemeal actions by federal and state lawmakers address the immediate need to keep individuals and families sheltered. It has also called attention to the dire need for more long-term policy solution are necessary. Targeting AirBnbs, luxury developments, and corporate property managements work to a point but more pragmatic solutions are required. The solutions are out there and certainly selling foreclosed propety to a community land trust is a good remedy. Mortgage and rent assistance grants do not reach everyone, especially small business owners and those in dire need. In order to pull ourselves out of the pandemic morass, re-stablize the economy and by extention, the housing market, people need to feel safe to go back to work and to the stores. This is not happening right now
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