Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
In reporting on the plight of landlords due to the moratorium on evictions, David Roeder seems not to have talked to any tenants’ organizations. He also did not note that the statewide moratorium set to expire at the end of this month supplements a national moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through June 30.
Roeder says the moratorium means landlords “shoulder a strange burden of giving away their product for free.” But there’s a big difference between canceling a debt and placing a freeze on the most drastic recourse for creditors. Tenants covered by the moratorium are still legally liable for all unpaid rent — and still liable to be evicted for other reasons than nonpayment. In order to qualify, renters must agree to make timely partial payments during the moratorium and pay the remainder of what they owe when it ends.