31
Journal
HOW MANY AMERICANS ARE
STRUGGLING TO PAY FOR HOUSING?
As the number of new cases of
COVID-19 continue to increase across the
world, so too do the number of Americans
struggling to make their mortgage and rent
payments. According to a new report from
ApartmentList, August found just over one-
third of Americans surveyed reported lacking
sufficient funds to pay their housing bills.
Based on a survey of more than 4,000
Americans, this month marks the fourth
month in a row that the nation's tenants and
homeowners struggled to meet their monthly
rent and mortgage deadlines. ApartmentList
reports, "For the fourth straight month,
roughly one-in-three Americans failed to
make a full, on-time housing payment. Late
and unpaid housing bills are accumulating,
putting financial strain on many families and
deepening concerns of near-term evictions
and foreclosures."
Americans have been temporarily
protected from eviction and foreclosures due
to federal and local eviction bans to date,
but with those continuing to expire across
the nation, the comings days feel uncertain
and homeowners and renters seem to be just
digging deeper into debt. According to the
report, "32% of renters (and homeowners)
entered August with unpaid bills." Of those,
20% reported entering the month with more
than $1,000 owed and unpaid for the month.
Here's how that stacks up compared to
the previous month. At the end of July, 15%
of renters "had accumulated rent debt but
owed their landlords less than $1,000." Eleven
percent owed between $1,000 and $2,000, and
another 5% reported owing more than $2,000.
For homeowners, 8% reported having
missed payments totaling less than $1,000;
another 11% owed between $1,000 and
$2,000, and 13% owed more than $2,000.
While both the challenges and the
available remedies for those in the rental
market differ from those available to
homeowners, the fears of a "worst-case
scenario" are much the same. Of those
ApartmentList surveyed who had entered
August with unpaid housing bills, 66% of
renters and 65% of homeowners said they
were concerned they might face an eviction or
foreclosure within the next six months.
During the first week of August alone,
just over 10% of Americans surveyed reported
that they made at least a partial payment of
their monthly rent or mortgage bill. However,
just shy of a quarter (22%) of respondents
said they had yet to make any payment at all
toward their housing bills for the month.
