Joint Statement from Members of the Residents United Network Anti-Eviction Committee and Nonprofit Affordable Housing Developers

Aug 13, 2020

August 2020

In the first five months of the pandemic, Californians managed stress from all angles: millions filed for unemployment, the waves of coronavirus cases rose then dropped then rose again, parents faced 24-hour child care when schools and daycares closed, and essential workers risked their families’ lives every time they left the house. We were spared, however, from the threat of evictions, because the Judicial Council closed eviction courts in April.

Those courts will reopen Sept. 2, despite Depression-level unemployment and rapidly-increasing daily coronavirus cases, unless the legislature acts quickly. A wave of evictions is coming unless the state legislature steps in to stop them, and we as both affordable housing residents and affordable housing developers fully support those efforts.

We’ve seen the effects of the pandemic on people’s ability to pay rent across the state. In Sacramento, a parent who lives in affordable housing lost hours at her job because of social distancing, then lost her job entirely and has not received unemployment. She’s worried about providing distance learning for her children and keeping a roof over their heads. In San Diego, a cancer survivor and single mom is afraid to apply for rental assistance because the federal government could target her for deportation.

There are many more of those stories among residents of affordable housing in every region of California – among seniors on fixed incomes, among young families who lost service-industry jobs, among people who’d come to affordable housing after years of homelessness, among Black and brown families who have fallen sick at disproportionately high rates.

Nonprofit affordable housing developers have scrambled to continue staffing, maintaining, and repairing the buildings where those residents live. With a second round of federal stimulus checks stalled and no relief from banks, developers’ ability to keep their buildings operational and provide key resident services is in jeopardy.

As affordable housing residents and developers, we support efforts to prevent residents from ending up on the street and keep owners solvent. We cannot end the legislative session without real eviction protections for residents and meaningful relief for affordable housing providers. We encourage the Governor and the legislature to find a solution as soon as possible.

Signed,

Rickie Brown, San Diego