When the CDC’s eviction moratorium is lifted, 11 million Americans will face housing instability.
A housing complex in Albany County, New York on May 5, 2021. (Image: Tyler A. McNeil by Wikimedia Commons)
As many as 11 million Americans currently face eviction risk. On July 31, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will lift its 10-month eviction moratorium, permitting landlords to charge late fees, file for non-payment, and evict non-complying residents. For small landlords, this comes as a relief. For the approximately 14% of renters behind on housing payments, this presents a crisis.
“People generally extend themselves as far as possible in order to maintain their housing,” says Vincent Reina, associate professor in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design and the faculty director of the Housing Initiative at Penn. Reina studies urban economics, low-income housing policies, and community and economic development. According to his research, people cut back on food and utilities and defer medical treatment in order to come up with rent money. “That essentially means that people are putting as much of their wages as possible towards housing,” he says.