NEW YORK— If Congress doesn't implement a new eviction ban, three-quarters of a million American households could be evicted later this year, according to new research.
Goldman Sachs is estimating that between 2.5 million and 3.5 million households are significantly behind on rent, owing a combined $12 billion to $17 billion to landlords.
CNN Business noted those renters appeared to be safe from eviction until at least October until the Supreme Court last week struck down the Biden administration's ban on evictions, meaning any further action must now come from Congress. At the same time, most state-level restrictions on evictions are scheduled to expire over the next month, which the Goldman Sachs analysts noted in their report, CNN Business added.
"The end of the eviction moratorium is likely to result in a sharp and rapid increase in eviction rates in coming months unless Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funding is distributed at a much faster pace or Congress addresses the issue," the report stated.
One Problem: Aid Not Delivered
Without faster aid or new legislation, Goldman Sachs is estimating 750,000 households will face eviction this fall and winter. The report further states that roughly half of all U.S. eviction filings resulted in eviction between 2006 and 2016.
As CUToday.info has reported and as CNN Business also noted, part of the problem appears to be trouble getting government aid out the door.
The process of recovering back rent through the emergency rental assistance program has been "disappointingly slow," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote. Even though the Treasury Department has dispersed $25 billion to state and local governments — and has another $20 billion available — just $4.5 billion has been distributed, according to the report.
CNN Business noted the Census Bureau estimated last week that about 1.3 million people are very likely to get evicted in the next two months. That same report estimated that more than 2.2 million people applied for rental assistance through state or local governments and either did not hear back or were denied.
Some Cities to be Hit Hard
"The strength of the housing and rental market suggests landlords will try to evict tenants who are delinquent on rent unless they obtain federal assistance," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in the report.
Goldman Sachs further predicted evictions could be "particularly pronounced in the cities hardest hit by the coronavirus" because those areas have stronger apartment rental markets.