February 11, 2021

Small landlords of color are grappling with the possibility of foreclosure as eviction moratoria have stalled residents’ rent payments. Tenants of small landlords have been particularly hard hit by the economic crisis, so the lack of rental payments threatens to widen the racial wealth gap for small landlords. “One intervention that treats all housing the same is not good policy. We need to have programs ready for small landlords since losing that generation of ownership is unacceptable,” stated Matt Murphy, executive director of the NYU Furman Center.

In December, the City Commission in Tallahassee, Florida, passed the Landlord Risk Mitigation Fund to give small landlords a financial safety net to rent units to people who had been previously evicted. The fund also provides free legal assistance to prevent evictions. “At least initially, this fund would like to prioritize those landlords that commit to not evict their current vulnerable tenants who may be facing a crisis. And they also prioritize landlords that would be willing to receive vulnerable clients that are reentering the housing market,” stated Abena Ojetayo, Tallahasee’s director for housing and community resilience.

A new study conducted by researchers at Duke University found housing policies that strengthen tenant protections have helped reduce COVID-19 infection rates by about 4 percent and COVID-19 related deaths by 11 percent over the first nine months of the pandemic. The study highlighted that emergency assistance for utility bills and rent have kept people in their homes and prevented communal spread.

Boise, Idaho, has dedicated $1.3 million dollars to preventing homelessness as part of a settlement that ruled the city cannot criminalize sleeping outside if homeless shelters are full. Boise will invest in homeless shelters, train police on how to engage with people experiencing homelessness, and amend ordinances to extend protections and prevent discrimination in shelters. “The landmark Martin v. Boise case is a win for all residents of Boise, housed and unhoused alike, and serves as a national model for how other communities should be implementing the decision,” stated Eric Tars, legal director at the National Homelessness Law Center.