Small Owners Searching for Eviction Moratorium Answers

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The next pandemic housing crisis looms, according to the Washington Post in “The battle for 1042 Cutler Street.”

Small portfolio owners and their residents continue to share in the struggle of  the financial impacts of the pandemic, and eviction moratoriums have exacerbated the challenges, with the reality laid bare by Eli Saslow in “The battle for 1042 Cutler Street” in the Washington Post.

The story follows Romeo Budhoo, a Schenectady, N.Y., owner and the hardships brought on by the pandemic and the eviction moratorium, who has collected less than half of his total rent for the past 13 months.

According to the Census, more than 8 million rental properties are late on payments by an average of $5,600, cites the Washington Post. Nearly half are owned by small owners who manage their own rental housing and are now trapped between residents “who can’t pay and their own mounting bills for insurance, mortgages and property tax.”

Budhoo is owed thousands of dollars in rent, has maxed out his credit cards, applied for a secondary loan on his car, defaulted on thousands of dollars in property taxes and has started taking medication for panic attacks and a stomach ulcer.

“According to government estimates, a third of small landlords are at risk of bankruptcy or foreclosure as the pandemic continues into its second year,” according to the Post.

Read the story.