The White House recently called on Congress to extend the federal eviction moratorium rather than allow the nationwide ban to expire Saturday night after nearly a full year, including recent extensions.
Delays and confusion have hindered the process since last September. The federal government allocated nearly $50 billion for rental assistance programs, yet barely 5% has been disbursed, often due to state and local bottlenecks.
Nonetheless, roughly half these funds will still be available through 2022, with the remaining half not expiring until 2025.
With help from a media only telling one side of the story, “housing advocates” have fear-mongered that millions of renters could lose their homes. By comparison, about 10 million homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure in 2008 during the Great Recession.
The government has also directly handed out well over $3,000 per individual over the past year, along with additional unemployment benefits, to avoid hardships. Moreover, with a record 9.3 million unfilled jobs in America, companies are desperate to hire, with nearly half of all employers saying they have jobs they cannot fill.
Following a year of landlords not being able to collect rent, the rental market is seeing price increases at more than double the current rate of inflation. Rather than helping mom-and-pop-type landlords who’ve lost millions, or encouraging people to work, Democrat House leadership rushed to nail down votes for yet another extension over the last two days. But lawmakers failed to pass a bill before many left for recess.
A CNN analysis Sunday called it “a story of Democrats’ failure to manage time just as much as it is about Republicans’ obstruction.”
Eviction moratoriums will remain in place across blue states like California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, and despite Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blaming others, New York, where ineptitude caused the Empire State to distribute almost nothing. Several other states have only approved a few million dollars.
Two days after calling her colleagues racists, Rep. Cori Bush publicly castigated them for not passing another extension. She spoke dishonestly on the U.S. Capitol steps, where she, Qualcomm heiress Rep. Sara Jacobs, and squad radicals like Reps. Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley allegedly stayed overnight to protest.
“The House is at recess. People are on vacations. How are we on vacation when we have millions of people who could start to be evicted tonight?” the first-term Missouri congresswoman claimed. “There are people already receiving and have received pay or vacate notices that will have them out tomorrow. People are already in a position where they need help, our most vulnerable, our most marginalized, those who are in need.”
Even a successful House vote would not pass the 50-50 Senate.
Minnesota has a bipartisan agreement with timelines for people who owe back rent to secure assistance. Under the new rules, landlords are required through mid October to send nonpayment notices 15 days prior to eviction for tenants behind on their rent.
A month ago, landlords could begin evicting tenants who refused to apply for assistance and didn’t pay up. The past two weeks, landlords have been allowed to evict tenants who “materially violate” terms of their lease agreements.
Also in October, all eviction protections will be lifted, except for renters with pending aid applications. Tenants who have claimed but not yet received state aid are protected from eviction until June 2022.
A.J. Kaufman
A.J. Kaufman is an Alpha News columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Israel National News, Orange County Register, St. Cloud Times, Star-Tribune, and across AIM Media Midwest and the Internet. Kaufman previously worked as a school teacher and military historian.
