{"id":52416,"date":"2020-07-31T18:33:08","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T00:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/as-pandemic-protections-expire-renters-need-new-deal-to-stave-off-eviction\/"},"modified":"2020-08-01T00:33:08","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T00:33:08","slug":"as-pandemic-protections-expire-renters-need-new-deal-to-stave-off-eviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/as-pandemic-protections-expire-renters-need-new-deal-to-stave-off-eviction\/","title":{"rendered":"As pandemic protections expire, renters need new deal to stave off eviction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Congress
Congress is debating a second relief package that could provide unemployment payments and renters\u2019 protections amid the coronavirus pandemic.<\/span>David Zalubowski\/Associated Press file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Democrats and Republicans are working on a compromise to pass a second relief package for a nation still struggling with its response to the coronavirus pandemic. The relief would come none too soon, as evictions are predicted to rise considerably if renters aren\u2019t provided with relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly concerning times,\u201d said Jack Regenbogen, senior attorney at the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. \u201cI\u2019m gravely concerned that unless there\u2019s further policy intervention, whether it be at the federal level or state level orm ideallym both, that we\u2019re going to witness unprecedented levels of eviction, displacement and homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republicans in the Senate led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have struggled to come up with a package approved by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and President Donald Trump. After meetings last week, McConnell returned to the Senate with the HEALS Act, a package that would include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks to eligible adults but notably would not include a renewal of the federal eviction moratorium, which protects thousands of renters nationwide.<\/p>\n

But the Republican plan has already been met with criticism from outside organizations and members of the same party. Some, like Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, have criticized the plan for adding more debt to the federal deficit. But organizations like the National Low-Income Housing Coalition have said the plan falls far short of where the need is nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout immediate action, millions of people in America will be evicted from their homes during a pandemic,\u201d CEO Diane Yentel said in a news release. \u201cSenate Republican proposals would do next to nothing to avoid this predictable and preventable disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gardner\"
Gardner<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In a statement provided to The Durango Herald<\/em>, Sen. Cory Gardner outlined his priorities for a coronavirus relief package.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have three priorities that must be accomplished in the next coronavirus response effort: Making sure that we\u2019re stopping the spread and flattening the curve, helping Coloradans with the immediate relief that they need to get through this crisis, and getting businesses up and running again,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cI will continue fighting to ensure Coloradans get through this pandemic together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bennet\"
Bennet<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

On Monday, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., released a statement calling the Republicans\u2019 proposal \u201cwoefully inadequate\u201d for the present concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday marks exactly four months since we passed the CARES Act, the last major bipartisan legislation to address the pandemic and economic crisis,\u201d Bennet said. \u201cInstead of using this time to engage in bipartisan negotiations over the next package, Republicans in Congress have frittered it away with a \u2018wait-and-see\u2019 approach as the pandemic continued to rage across much of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Democrats\u2019 relief package, a bill called the HEROES Act, which passed the House of Representatives in May, includes robust protections for those whose income or housing has been affected by the pandemic, including an extension of the $600 per week federal unemployment assistance benefits. The plan also provides for $1,200 stimulus checks, though the bill includes a provision that would remove President Donald Trump\u2019s name from the check.<\/p>\n

The bill also includes an extension of the federal eviction moratorium for an additional 12 months and requires landlords to give a 30-day notice of evictions after the moratorium expires.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., did not respond to requests for comment. Tipton voted against the HEROES Act in the House.<\/p>\n

A wave of evictions<\/div>\n

An analysis of renter households nationwide by consultant firm Stuart Risius Ross found that as many as 36% of such households in Colorado are in danger of rent payment shortfalls or eviction. Nationally, the number is even higher, at 43%.<\/p>\n

Regenbogen, who specializes in landlord-tenant law, said that number is \u201cheartbreaking,\u201d and cautions that it is unlikely to improve anytime soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many families that I know of personally that they can\u2019t go back to work either, because of the health risk or their children are at home participating in school remotely and they can\u2019t afford child care and they need to be home with their children,\u201d Regenbogen said.<\/p>\n

While the Republicans\u2019 plan does budget for $3.3 billion in rental assistance funding, the figure is well below the $100 billion the National Low Income Housing Coalition is calling for.<\/p>\n

Regenbogen said more assistance in all forms, from federal unemployment benefits to enhanced renter protections at the state level, are needed to prevent a \u201ccatastrophic\u201d wave of evictions by late August.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a breathtaking number of Coloradans we\u2019re talking about (who face eviction),\u201d Regenbogen said. \u201cI think it\u2019s very real, and I just don\u2019t think the leadership at our highest levels from the governor\u2019s office down really appreciates what type of economic risk our families, our neighbors are facing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacob Wallace is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congress call for \u2018immediate relief,\u2019 but what form that takes remains unclear<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,28,24,25],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-52416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-headlines","tag-u-s-sen-cory-gardner","tag-u-s-sen-michael-bennet"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52416"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=52416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}