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“But if this continues much longer without an additional safety net, it’s going to get harder and harder,” she said.
Keeping up with housing costs during the coronavirus pandemic has become increasingly difficult for millions of Americans who remain unemployed. As the pandemic enters its sixth month, financial pressures continue to pile up for many households — and it’s expected to get worse.
Several factors are threatening to turn the ongoing housing insecurity crisis into a full-blown catastrophe.
Research associate Rob Warnock has been tracking housing trends for the website Apartment List.
“We found that 32% of renters, as well as 32% of homeowners, said that they have some sort of unpaid housing cost obligation. So it’s about a third of people entering August who have unpaid bills,” he said.
More than 20% of those people owe more than $1,000.
September is just around the corner, and many people, like the Bergeys, face their next payment without the help of the $600 weekly federal unemployment checks.
“I don’t have words for my inability to understand that the government seems to think that having more homeless people during the pandemic is in some ways better for the economy than subsidizing us through this time,” said Deki Bergey.
Lisa Scott of Oxford Circle is two months behind on her rent, totaling $2,200.
“I send my landlord what I can when I can,” she said, considering herself lucky. “I’ve been in this house almost five years and I have children, so he’s trying to be fair and bear with me.”
Warnock said about half have either worked out an agreement with their landlord or were in the process of negotiating that.
“From a landlord’s perspective, you might have a tenant who is struggling to make rent, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there are many other people out there who could take that tenant’s lease and pay rent,” he explained.
Also looming like a dark cloud is the Aug. 31 expiration date of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. Gov. Phil Murphy just extended New Jersey’s moratorium through Oct. 15.