Millions of Americans are behind on rent. Mass evictions begin in January

Tens of millions of Americans are in danger of lose their homes by January, 2021, when moratoriums end. People who own a home or rent can accrue enormous debt that can reach up to 70 billion without stimulus aid, and eviction could far exceed the 3.8 million homeowners who were foreclosed on in 2009.

In July, Syracuse News posted an article explaining how unemployment claims had surpassed 50 million. Then later on, House speaker Nancy Pelosi explained that unemployment rates were at a rate of one million per week, and urged GOP senate to pass the CARES ACT. After having millions of desperate Americans waiting three months for the vote, the vote hasn’t come yet and many think it might happen until February next year, or never.

Meanwhile, a national eviction ban and some state and city protections are set to expire by January in 2021, or sooner, meaning renters will be on the hook for months of missed payments, and on the street with out protection.

Jennifer Smith, reporter at the Wall Street Journal twittered how the bal­loon­ing debt is­sue for renters is an­other sign of how Covid-19 is pun­ish­ing the majority of Americans, leaving the af­flu­ent groups protected. 

The bal­loon­ing debt is­sue for renters is an­other sign of how Covid-19 is pun­ish­ing the less well-off far worse than the more af­flu­ent. Via ⁦@_willparker_⁩ https://t.co/mX2my1tZoA

— Jennifer Smith (@jensmithWSJ) October 27, 2020

The WSJ also explains that “the tens of millions of people potentially caught in a web of home or rental debt and eviction would far exceed the 3.8 million homeowners who were foreclosed on in 2007-2010”. The landlords or banks won’t be the winners either, they will be left hanging with billions of un paid rents or mortgages. “With outstand­ing rent debt estimated to reach $7.2bn be­fore year-end, and with no additional stimulus? $70bn.”

James Daily, a former National Lab Energy Department scientist who lost his job during Trump’s climate change lay-offs, that left more than 500 scientists without a job, he is now 62 and failed for unemployment. He is seriously thinking of moving out of the country to Mexico, due to the high cost of housing.

“During the pandemic, cost of food has doubled, utilities, car insurance, and housing is very expensive, and there are not jobs jobs due to the low demand, and very high supply of available employees. Not to mention that once you entire the job market where the majority of Americans live, salaries for them haven’t increased in the last 40 years, the same years since the neoliberal economic model was installed in America.”

Federal estimates show that with the mounting housing debt will stop U.S. economic recovery when the 50 million people from New York City to San Francisco get evicted, once moratoriums expire; therefore, creating a housing crisis larger than the one in 2009.

Before the corona virus pandemic, an estimated 63% of Americans were living pay-check-to-pay-check, and don’t have $500 dollars in their bank accounts for emergencies.  Now, that millions have lost their jobs due to the shutdown, and about 8 millions mothers have to leave their jobs to take care of children studying at home.

It is just abhorrent to think of the upcoming tsunami of homeless people in the United States, and we are talking of just two or three months from now, a situation that has happened to other countries such as Brazil, where the income inequality and job opportunities are so  low, that the birth of slum is now part of Rio de Janeiro landscape.

Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador today explained that this is not a crises, but a decadency provoked by decades of neoliberal policies that have destroyed the possibility of recovery for many countries who are still subscribed to that model. The neoliberal model installed in Mexico since the early 80s destroyed Mexico, not only economically, but also socially leading to high crime rates, which fortunately the new progressive government has been able to stop its upward trend, but he says it will take years to rebuild.