For millions of renters who have lost income, rent day on May 1 is a looming disaster.
A majority of the country’s 43.8 million renting households have lost at least some of their income in the coronavirus shutdown, a much higher share than homeowners, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll done in mid-April.
This means an increasing number of households are at risk of missing rent payments, which could cascade into a national flood of evictions and forced homelessness.
Facing the coronavirus pandemic, state governments have adopted special rules to protect renters. Landlords, attorneys, judges, sheriffs and renters are all trying to keep up with daily changes in the system.
“It’s a lot of information and it’s not easy to read through it all,” said Hannah Adams of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services. “It does not mean tenants don’t have to pay rent. Rent hasn’t been suspended or canceled or forgiven by the law. It’s just that the landlord’s remedy of eviction that is on hold.”
