Housing group says landlords have lost $1 billion during pandemic
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[July 02, 2021]
By Kevin Bessler
(The Center Square) – An Illinois housing
provider association wants more accountability from tenants who aren't
paying rent.
The Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance is asking lawmakers to require
that renters who do not apply for rental assistance start paying again
or explain in court why they can’t pay.
Research by the NBOA found housing providers have lost over $1 billion
in unpaid rent since the beginning of the pandemic.
“How would you like to live in a building where you are paying rent but
the housing provider can’t fix the leaky roof or repair a broken door,
simply because they don’t have the funds that they need to maintain
their properties,” said Clint Sabin, spokesman for the NBOA.
The NBOA is recommending that renters who have applied for rental
assistance should continue to receive the protections of Governor J.B.
Pritzker’s eviction moratorium. Those who do not submit an application
should not be “shielded from a legal process which typically affords
them months during which time they can negotiate a settlement or explain
their circumstances in court.”
About 300,000 applicants have sought pandemic rent assistance thus far
in Illinois. An estimated 15% of Illinois tenants reported they were
behind on their rent payments from May 26 through June 7, according to a
U.S. Census Bureau survey.
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“We want to continue working with our renters who are
trying and doing what they can to be part of the solution,” said
Michael Glasser, president of NBOA. "Those renters who do not even
take a few minutes to apply for assistance should either start
paying rent again or show up in court to explain to a judge why they
can’t. It’s not fair to their neighbors who have to continue to pay
rent throughout the year.”
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined with 22
other attorneys general on an amicus brief filed with the U.S.
Supreme Court asking to reinstate the federal eviction moratorium.
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The U.S. Supreme Court this week declined to end the federal
government’s temporary ban on evictions, which is now scheduled to
expire at the end of the month. The high court ruled 5-4. Justice
Brett Kavanaugh wrote that he thought the ban was illegal, but he
noted that it is scheduled to expire soon.
“We haven’t asked grocery stores to give away free food, or
pharmacies to give away free medication, and we can’t keep asking
housing providers to give away free housing without destabilizing
the housing system, which was already fragile before the pandemic,”
Glasser said. |