Senator Collins Calls on Administration to Support Rental Assistance as Part of Eviction Moratorium Amid COVID-19

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the Chairman of the Housing Appropriations Subcommittee, sent a letter to Department of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urging the Administration to prioritize coupling the eviction moratorium with rental assistance for those most affected by COVID-19 related economic hardships.  

Some economists estimate that renters already owe $25 billion in back rent and could owe as much as $70 billion by the end of the year—a debt they cannot possibly pay off when the eviction moratorium ends.  The rental assistance Senator Collins is advocating for would keep people housed without causing them to accrue unsustainable levels of debt and allow smaller rental property owners to continue to collect rent payments.

“For [the eviction] moratorium to be truly effective…the small businesses that make up approximately half of all rental property owners must have access to the resources necessary to continue to provide this critical source of affordable housing,” Senator Collins wrote.  “Rental assistance would help to prevent a financial cliff for property owners and those renters most affected by COVID-19 related economic hardships.”

The inability of many tenants to pay rent is causing a significant lack of rental income for rental property owners – especially for smaller, mom-and-pop property owners, leaving them at greater risk of foreclosure and bankruptcy.  According to the Census Bureau, nearly 23 million units in 17 million properties are owned by individual investors and the total rents paid in Class C properties dipped 17 percentage points to 37 percent in July.

Click HERE to read the full letter.

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