Friday, April 7, 2023

"20 Facts About Evictions That Will Make Americans Panic"

Full screen recommended.
"20 Facts About Evictions That Will Make Americans Panic"
By Epic Economist

"If you have ever experienced an eviction or know someone who did, then you know how incredibly devastating this experience can be. America is facing the worst housing affordability crisis in history, with both home and rent prices at the highest levels they have ever been. Housing is a fundamental necessity and it should be a fundamental right because, without it, we do not have the right conditions to be able to be a part of our own society. Instead, people with no access to proper housing live on the margins, and their most basic freedoms aren't guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

Since the turn of the century, evictions have become a growing problem across the United States, but things have gotten exponentially worse since the pandemic when about 30% of all Americans lost their ability to pay rent due to furloughs, layoffs, and early retirements. Millions were displaced from their homes, a trend that has only accelerated when moratoriums were lifted and landlords started to file for eviction at U.S. courts once again.

In some regions of the country, the rate of eviction is now over 40% higher than it was before the health crisis. Every day, thousands of families are pushed out into the streets, and households with lower incomes have been particularly vulnerable, especially now that they have been financially strained for three years in a row and inflation is making the cost of everyday essentials increasingly more unaffordable for the average American. Recent reports note that 50% of all renters in the country are burdened by rent, and about 14 million households remain at risk of eviction due to non-payment of rent. This crisis is reaching proportions that are alarming many housing advocates, who use terms like "eviction tsunami" and "eviction floodgate" to describe the shocking rise in cases they're currently witnessing.

Not even federal or state-level moratoriums have actually kept evictions from happening in recent years. And now people are facing even higher risks of losing their homes. All over the nation, financial conditions are worsening for Americans, who are seeing layoff numbers skyrocket by more than 400% compared to just one year ago. According to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, as of 2022, there is a nationwide shortage of 7.2 million affordable and available rental homes, which exacerbates the ongoing eviction crisis. Today, we actually have the lowest rental vacancy rate on record, at a mere 4% nationwide.

That gives huge leverage to corporate landlords that have all the resources to find loopholes in the law to conduct illegitimate evictions so that they can continue rising costs for their next tenants. The absurd increase in home prices is still forcing many would-be buyers to rent, and the higher demand is incredibly beneficial for those at the top of the economic chain while being completely devastating for those at the very bottom.

Although evictions have always been a reality in the U.S., the scale of the problem we're facing right now is unlike anything we have ever seen. That's why in today's video, we compiled some chilling stats and facts that expose the depth of this scary situation."
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