Eviction wave? Noticeable?

[nao57]

I thought this would be a great place to post this. And this set of threads of 'DIY/Self Sufficiency' seems like the most appropriate place.

Any time you see news or rumors, it helps to actually see what real people on the street think.

Supposedly there's a huge wave of evictions in the bigger cities that may be happening soon. People are unemployed. And there's no protections helping these people because our government is ...having problems, let's leave it that.

OK, I didn't mean to say that. I will be non-political...

What I mean to say is; *'I'd like to know if you are seeing signs or rumors also in your areas or with people that you know about anything on this eviction wave?'*

And I'm interested in what you might have heard or know.

I've seen several news links about this, credible articles that I'd seen pan out with other stories most the time, but not big name news brands.

 

[SE WA Guy]

This is a very real thing - and no size of community is immune to its effects.

Again, being non-political, or passing blame on either party, just look at the facts:

The government instituted an eviction/foreclosure 'freeze', nothing more. There was no federal provision for rent and mortgage forgiveness. And that freeze, unless something else is passed, will expire here at the end of the month. That being said, the banks had the option to give deferments on loans they gave out to homeowners, and many have taken that route. But this is why this is more of a rent crisis than a housing crisis like the last recession. The rent freeze didn't do anything to forgive the past due amounts. So all of a sudden, a person who hasn't been working, or whose industry is facing labor crunches to poor sales, isn't going to just magically have three months back rent to give their landlords on August 1st.

This is a very scary crisis. The worst case scenarios project 10% of the nation's population being officially homeless if this trend continues. But it's not like it's going to be 1 in every 10 people you see every day will be sleeping on sidewalks. Some, especially those with kids, will find family and friends to take them in, at a great burden no doubt. Others will 'couch surf'. But those that were already on the bubble of financial stability before the pandemic will see themselves added to the number literally living on the street.

This will affect those currently homeless as their available resources, including cash donations, will be going in more directions. This will affect crime rates, and not just because poor people = bad people. But somebody who is starving will resort to desperate measures in some cases. The larger issue is an influx of women and children being unaccounted for - and sex trafficking is a very real problem in today's world. Don't doubt that for one minute. With schools going online (which I don't have a problem with based on the transmission of the virus), we also have to take into account that teachers won't be seeing kids everyday to see if they're well, not abused...and just present in general.

It sounds insignificant, but I joined this site, and bought chickens, when I couldn't find eggs in the store at the start of this whole mess. I'm lucky enough to have a full time job in the food manufacturing industry, and a part time job in the evenings. Many around me haven't been so lucky, and like many here have said, it's not even their fault.

The most apolitical thing I could say right now, is this: be kind to each other. We're about to see a lot of homeless people in very bad spots. They didn't deserve what happened to them. We can't solve their problems by giving them $1 every time we see them, but we can be kind in all situations.

 

[BonNuit]

I own and operate a small construction company that specializes in housing maintenance. I currently have 20 townhouses and multiple other multi-family units that my crew handles. Not only am I seeing signs of this happening, or hearing people chat about -- I am seeing it happen in real time. That is my experience.

Edited to add: Many of these are long-term tenants, too. Some are newer tenants, but with only one exception, none of them were troublesome or non-payers before. It's heartbreaking -- the property owners can only go without income so long, too. They are also going under water. There are no winners.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I feel like this may be better suited to "random ramblings." I've been seeing this pop up in the news too.... A friend of mine lives in New Orleans and is a landlord. He owns two homes. In both homes the tenants have stopped paying rent and they were his primary source of income. I hate the whole situation. I live in the countryside so not an issue so much for me but my heart breaks for both the landlords and the tenants. I hope things look up soon.

 

[nao57]

I own and operate a small construction company that specializes in housing maintenance. I currently have 20 townhouses and multiple other multi-family units that my crew handles. Not only am I seeing signs of this happening, or hearing people chat about -- I am seeing it happen in real time. That is my experience.

Edited to add: Many of these are long-term tenants, too. Some are newer tenants, but with only one exception, none of them were troublesome or non-payers before. It's heartbreaking -- the property owners can only go without income so long, too. They are also going under water. There are no winners.

Yeah its especially telling when its people you know are responsible having trouble, and not people who actively were making bad choices. And that's how it was in 2009 also; I kept seeing it happen then and they were sometimes business people and people you would think are really responsible.

 

[MotherOHens]

... I'm not sure if I say 'BOTH political parties are epic failures and have been the majority of my life as they are NOT public servants, but personal profiteers.' -- as it neither favors one over another nor says either is solely 'responsible'...

It seems unlikely that true consequences of this have unfolded to the extent that they will and considering the sheer numbers of folks who are impacted negatively, or will be, it would seem that the failures of our system WILL create a ripple then flood us all in ways we had not considered.

Unsure of how to 'fix' this broken system or the fallout, but exceptionally tired of a small select few benefiting from the suffering and heartache of many.

And no, I don't want some person's second or third house to be next to mine. They can keep themselves wherever they are, stop raising my property values so I can pay more because they are alright paying triple what the property was worth to line the pockets of the middle men in between-- and they wouldn't give a HOOT about those around them in either place who didn't have the ability or desire to do that! They are probably buying the house or property of someone who is/has suffered major loss-- but do they care? No, not a bit.

Smh. Disgusting.

I don't know. Smh. It just seems we should be -- we were meant to be-- better than this. I'd like to think most of us are...

It does seem that those who aren't are the same ones who are running this machine... and they think we are mushrooms.

 

[nao57]

yes--we are 2 hrs away. Many still commute to their jobs in the city, and family stays here.

I had heard there's a big movement to get out of big cities too. I'd forgotten to mention that, but it ties in with what you said.

 

[Compost King]

Landlords have been middle-class families lately who choose to invest in real estate instead of the stock market, they can't afford to keep non payers living in their investments because they can't afford up keep on properties not generating revenues. They are getting the pinch in this and soon they will be made out to be the bad guys.

 

[Hucklekree]

Yes, out my way, 2.5 hrs south of Seattle lots of unrest as we are already handling a lot of homeless and now we are worried about a new influx and where to put them and how to get them connected to services, etc.

However on the other side of things, our housing market is hopping. My home went up 50,000 since march in valuation. My neighbors purchased their house three years ago for 272,000 and just sold it for 462,000 two weeks ago. It is crazy.

My husband works in construction and rentals for residential, commercial and light industrial. His company is dealing with the fallout from the disaster at Boeing. All the third party machinists are out of work and can no longer pay rent on their spaces.

Also, their apartments are starting to see some vacancies (no forced evictions yet, and they would like to avoid that if at all possible) which is a big deal because these apts used to have long waiting lists to get one.

As far as evictions however, this is WA and we do tend to do things a little differently then the Feds. I would be surprised if our govenor allowed the eviction moratorium lapse.

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

I am not sure if this is political - someone please let me know and I will take it down or a moderator can - but I think this is just to speak for people who are our neighbors (as in American citizens).

Personally, I have not seen evictions yet but in 2008 our neighbor lost his home (only 5 of us on this road) and they had nowhere to go. He had lost his job first, then their home. It was a family. I don't know where they went. Personally, I am from Germany and my sisters still live there. They cannot lose their jobs. Their CEO can, but not the workers. They have a lot of protections and Germany is very strong economically. Also, free health care, college, elder care, kindergarten, etc. Just saying. It can be done.