Memo: Addressing Housing Precarity in the Context of Coronavirus Crisis
By Rachel D. Godsil Professor at Rutgers Law School, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Perception Institute, and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar
Executive Summary
Voters, as shown through polling by Data for Progress, across all party lines want their government officials to take bold steps to protect people from losing their homes and falling into financial despair, including bi-partisan support for each of the following:
79% would support a ban on rent increases for as long as there remains a state of emergency.
81% would support a ban on evictions for as long as there remains a state of emergency.
84% would support a ban on foreclosures for as long as there remains a state of emergency.
76% would support a “suspend and forgive” rent program, under which the government—not the renter—would compensate landlords for lost rental income for as long as there remains a state of emergency.
78% would support a “suspend and forgive” mortgage payment program for as long as there remains a state of emergency.
80% would support a “sliding scale” rental assistance program that provides direct payments to tenants to ensure people can pay their rent despite coronavirus-related lost income for as long as there remains a state of emergency.
83% would support rental assistance to Americans experiencing homelessness for as long as there remains a state of emergency.
87% would support government assistance to non-profit housing providers to ensure that those providers are able to continue to provide stable housing to their tenants for as long as there remains a state of emergency.
