The Partnership for the Homeless Statement on the Status of Federal Eviction Moratorium

(New York, NY)— The Partnership for the Homeless issued the following statement today about the latest extension of the federal eviction moratorium.

“We agree with the moratorium extension as moving to evict people before existing federal rental assistance has been disseminated would be senseless and a lose, lose, lose situation — for the tenants that would lose their homes, the property owners who would lose months of rental payments, and local governments who would end up with a shelter bill that is more expensive than paying for people to keep their homes.

However, the crisis of the last few days was preventable. Property owners and tenants alike are the victims of government’s inaction on two fronts. First, our leaders need to accelerate dissemination of the existing rental assistance and make better use of community organizations on the front lines to achieve this goal.  Second, now is the time to recognize that the existing federal rental assistance funding is insufficient to meet the national need.

Congress should be passing a new bill to make the remainder of the $100 billion needed for rental assistance available immediately and extending the moratorium until sufficient funding has been made available and disseminated to property owners and tenants.

This would be a far better use of our taxpayer dollars than recreating an unnecessary ‘crisis’ about whether or not the moratorium will be extended every few months—a ‘crisis’ which is, in turn, creating preventable stress and trauma for millions of Americans.

The end date of the moratorium and that a majority of tenants and property owners have yet to receive rent relief have been well-known facts for a considerable amount of time, and our government leaders need to stop taking Americans on this unnecessary rollercoaster ride.

Ironically, this cycle of panic and crisis they are creating is one of the hallmarks of homelessness; it is not possible to stabilize children and families in their homes when they are constantly being churned in a cycle of being at risk of losing those homes. If we are serious about rebuilding our country post COVID, we must stop playing this crisis game and immediately safeguard Americans in their homes as a way of creating the requisite solid foundation from which people can return to school and work and get the economy thriving again.”

About The Partnership for the Homeless
The Partnership for the Homeless seeks to solve homelessness by preventing it with robust programming for New Yorkers at-risk of or experiencing homelessness—now and for future generations. Our work is putting the building blocks in place to address immediate housing needs, create stability through important health interventions, disrupt generational homelessness, and change the public narrative about homelessness. Learn more at www.partnershipforthehomeless.org.

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