Eviction crisis demands action
In this public health emergency, we have a responsibility to protect the vulnerable
Virginia officials urgently need to find a workable way to help people who fall behind on their rent without placing an unfair burden on landlords. When the COVID-19 pandemic threated to cause a flood of evictions last summer, the state and federal governments came through with temporary measures that helped many renters.
Most of those stopgap measures have ended. Meanwhile, COVID only seems to be getting worse. And winter is upon us.
Even without a pandemic, compassion should make us want to help everyone have a safe, decent place to live.
But we do have a pandemic and turning more people out on the streets will only make this public health crisis worse. It’s not safe for people who become homeless to crowd in with relatives or friends. And social-distancing guidelines have made organizations that offer shelter during cold weather change or shut down their operations.
Repeatedly, we are urged to stay home as much as possible to prevent catching or spreading the coronavirus. What can people do when they don’t have a home?
It doesn’t help that people who have fallen behind on their rent are likely to be especially vulnerable in other ways. Without insurance, many use already over-burdened emergency rooms if they seek medical help at all. Many worry constantly about having enough food.
The pandemic has triggered an economic crisis. As many businesses shut down or scaled back, people who had been scraping by were thrown out of work.
Often the people who are first to lose their jobs are those least likely to have savings. Money for rent soon dries up.
Even before COVID, Virginia had an alarmingly high eviction rate. A Princeton University study found that Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Chesapeake were ranked in the top 10 for eviction rates among large cities nationwide, and Virginia Beach wasn’t far behind.
The reasons are complex, a Virginia Commonwealth University found, and include racism and longstanding attitudes.
Another factor was laws that heavily favored landlords. Early this year, legislators and Gov. Ralph Northam worked together to make the laws fairer, with some leeway for tenants.
Just as the reforms were starting to make a difference, the pandemic hit.
A Virginia Supreme Court freeze on eviction proceedings helped for a while, but that ended in September. The federal Centers for Disease Control put a moratorium on many evictions, but that ends at the end of this month.
Millions of dollars in federal and state COVID relief funds have helped some people pay rent, but that money won’t last forever.
Who knows when the pandemic will end, or how much longer it will take for the economy to rebound?
It’s a tough problem made tougher by the reality that some renters are irresponsible, not just down on their luck. Landlords can’t be expected to provide free housing indefinitely. They need eviction as a recourse when dealing with deadbeat tenants.
Some landlords are harsher than others.
Many property managers have been willing to work with tenants to apply for help and to arrange payment plans. Others, though, are quick to start eviction proceedings. Those tend to be big companies, some headquartered out of state, that own hundreds or thousands of rental units, often poorly maintained.
Gov. Northam has announced some changes that could help. Starting Jan. 1, landlords will have to give tenants 14 days’ notice rather than five before suing for eviction, and landlords rather than tenants must handle applications to the Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program. Landlords are familiar with the process and know how to file applications, while many tenants don’t know what help is available or don’t know how to ask for it.
But when those funds dry up, many tenants will again risk eviction.
This is a problem that needs solutions, quickly. In this public health emergency, we have a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable. There are few more vulnerable than people who suddenly find themselves homeless.