UNL professor talks about Trump’s nationwide eviction ban

Making ends meet during a pandemic can be tough, the CDC says even if you can't make rent you can stay home.
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(LINCOLN, Neb.) -Making ends meet during a pandemic can be tough, the CDC says even if you can’t make rent you can stay home. The Trump Administration has issued a new eviction ban.
“Evictions are likely to increase in the United States and the reason for that is obvious, with is that millions of people are laid off or have their hours cut and the rent continues to be due,” said Daniel Tannenbaum, a UNL assistant professor who studies eviction and housing issues.
Due to the pandemic, many families who lost jobs can’t pay rent. The administration through the CDC is banning landlords from evicting tenants who are unable to pay through December.

“It could be good for renters because it could allow them to remain in their unit for a period of time and potentially the economy could improve,” says Tannenbaum. “Their earnings could go up and allow them to remain in the unit. But the downside is that the moratorium means that many renters may not make any payments for a long period of time and that means that could have a negative impact on landlords.”

Tannenbaum says though it helps renters, the after-effects could be worse.
“I think that has the potential to impact landlords because if renters are not paying rent if landlords have to make mortgage payments on their units on their properties, that could have a potential and damaging effect on the landlords that lead to foreclosure,” adds Tannenbaum.

The new ban, as of now, does not offer a way for landlords to get those unpaid payments back. Tannenbaum has a solution.
“I think that the moratorium is not enough,” adds Tannenbaum. “We need to have some sort of direct financial assistance to renters and that could come in the form of increased enhanced unemployment benefits that will allow renters to pay their rent.”

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