Millions of Americans at Risk of Losing Homes When Eviction Moratorium Ends Dec. 31, Report Says

At the end of this year, eviction moratoriums are expected to expire and millions of Americans will be at risk of losing their homes, according to a report. An estimated 6.7 million people can be evicted in the coming months, according to a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the University of Arizona.

In the first week of November, an estimated 9 million Americans said they were behind in rent, according to the Census Bureau. Many renters are still paying their monthly dues, but are using "unsustainable" income, including borrowing money, using credit cards, or savings, to make ends meet, CBS News reported. 

The moratorium in the federal CARES Act that protected one in four American renters expired in July, according to the report. 

Then in September, the Center for Disease Control issued another moratorium as a public health measure to protect renters who earn less than $99 million — but that is set to expire just before the new year. 

The moratorium also does not protect renters from a "payment cliff," which means they have to pay the accumulation of back rent and late fees. 

Other states and cities have implemented renter protections but they, too, are set to expire soon.

Congress has yet to pass another coronavirus relief package and nearly 12 million Americans will lose their unemployment benefits after Christmas, CBS News reported. 

The report estimates that 51% of children in the U.S. live in homes that have lost employment income since March. Nearly 4-in-10 renters with kids in their homes have either no or slight confidence that they can pay their rent on time in the next month and 22% are already behind, the report said.

"Now is the time for action to provide emergency rental assistance. A failure to do so will result in millions of renters spiraling deeper into debt and housing poverty, while public costs and public health risks of eviction-related homelessness increase," the NLIHC report says. "These outcomes are preventable."

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