During the course of the pandemic, members of Congress and the executive branch have been able to put aside their differences to quietly provide virtually unlimited support for corporations. A little-noticed change in the 2020 CARES Act, for example, allowed corporations to use losses from 2020, 2019, and 2018 to
The problem - with the CARES Act, the CDC moratorium, and any other federal action - is that eviction is a purely state/local process. No federal agency has jurisdiction to enforce a moratorium, and many state laws are inconsistent with the moratorium’s requirements.
The most practical way to enforce a (new) moratorium would be to tie compliance to any federal benefit (PPP loan forgiveness, which is discretionary), and for states to amend their eviction (technically called “forcible entry and detainer”) laws to require that a landlord must verify compliance with all licensing requirements, moratoria, emergency funding programs, and other resources and restrictions BEFORE they will be able to use a court to enforce a lease. This change would put the burden of compliance on the people who are best able to do so, rather than on the most vulnerable individuals in our society.
It is true that many landlords are caught in the middle - they still must pay their debt service, whether or not they collect rent; there was no foreclosure moratorium for commercial real estate. And their inability to regain possession of defaulted units means they can’t lease those units to new, paying tenants, who similarly are stuck in their existing units because there is nowhere else to go.
The pandemic caused a cascade of negative consequences at all levels. But millions of dollars in taxpayer funds are available to help landlords, if only they would avail themselves of the opportunity. It is unconscionable that they are allowed to use our judicial process to shift the burden to others, when they are not willing to help themselves.
The administration and congress have had plenty of time to create a reasonable stopgap for evictions that did not involve asking landlords to selectively bear the burden of a great social upheaval. When the rents stop coming in, the mortgage bills do not. An when a tenant is protected in a property who is causing more damage to it every week, and you can't get him or her out, this has the effect of frustrating small landlords into selling "up the chain" to the blackrocks of the world. I can assure you, if you think 2008 was bad with Mnuchin & Gang's massive land grab with socialized losses - what would come from extended eviction moratoriums with no landlord relief would basically result in complete corporate control of real estate in America.
Biden and other more moderate Democrats have been crying obstruction since he was VP. While congressional Republicans are certainly not above reproach in this regard, Democratic Party leadership has, by and large, advanced tepid solutions to problems like the eviction crisis and has otherwise capitulated to centrists/conservatives without much resistance. As long as we only have two viable electoral options, I fear we will continue to see more of the same.
Yep. Last July in Virginia in my county evictions resumed. We are small. 15 million being tossed on to the curb has a Tom Joad Grapes of Wrath kinda look, doesn't it?
"Brother can you spare a dime," in cities that likely already have streets filled with homeless scenes pop in my head.
Going to look ugly for election cycle in 2022. If you don't have a permanent address in my state, you can't vote. You think the GOP is counting on that?
The Dems need to man up and Joe needs an executive order. Trump sure issued plenty to detriment of many.
The problem - with the CARES Act, the CDC moratorium, and any other federal action - is that eviction is a purely state/local process. No federal agency has jurisdiction to enforce a moratorium, and many state laws are inconsistent with the moratorium’s requirements.
The most practical way to enforce a (new) moratorium would be to tie compliance to any federal benefit (PPP loan forgiveness, which is discretionary), and for states to amend their eviction (technically called “forcible entry and detainer”) laws to require that a landlord must verify compliance with all licensing requirements, moratoria, emergency funding programs, and other resources and restrictions BEFORE they will be able to use a court to enforce a lease. This change would put the burden of compliance on the people who are best able to do so, rather than on the most vulnerable individuals in our society.
It is true that many landlords are caught in the middle - they still must pay their debt service, whether or not they collect rent; there was no foreclosure moratorium for commercial real estate. And their inability to regain possession of defaulted units means they can’t lease those units to new, paying tenants, who similarly are stuck in their existing units because there is nowhere else to go.
The pandemic caused a cascade of negative consequences at all levels. But millions of dollars in taxpayer funds are available to help landlords, if only they would avail themselves of the opportunity. It is unconscionable that they are allowed to use our judicial process to shift the burden to others, when they are not willing to help themselves.
The administration and congress have had plenty of time to create a reasonable stopgap for evictions that did not involve asking landlords to selectively bear the burden of a great social upheaval. When the rents stop coming in, the mortgage bills do not. An when a tenant is protected in a property who is causing more damage to it every week, and you can't get him or her out, this has the effect of frustrating small landlords into selling "up the chain" to the blackrocks of the world. I can assure you, if you think 2008 was bad with Mnuchin & Gang's massive land grab with socialized losses - what would come from extended eviction moratoriums with no landlord relief would basically result in complete corporate control of real estate in America.
Biden and other more moderate Democrats have been crying obstruction since he was VP. While congressional Republicans are certainly not above reproach in this regard, Democratic Party leadership has, by and large, advanced tepid solutions to problems like the eviction crisis and has otherwise capitulated to centrists/conservatives without much resistance. As long as we only have two viable electoral options, I fear we will continue to see more of the same.
Yep. Last July in Virginia in my county evictions resumed. We are small. 15 million being tossed on to the curb has a Tom Joad Grapes of Wrath kinda look, doesn't it?
"Brother can you spare a dime," in cities that likely already have streets filled with homeless scenes pop in my head.
Going to look ugly for election cycle in 2022. If you don't have a permanent address in my state, you can't vote. You think the GOP is counting on that?
The Dems need to man up and Joe needs an executive order. Trump sure issued plenty to detriment of many.
Are corporations benefiting from other portions of CARE Act, or just moratorium on evictions? Seems like an even bigger story isn’t being told.