One of my favorite films is a movie called Inherent Vice, starring Joaquin Phoenix. It’s about a stoner detective solving a complicated murder mystery involving a shady land deal.
Anyway, Phoenix’s character, Doc, is having a conversation with a cutthroat, elitist businessman about the unfairness of life in one scene.
Doc asked the one-percenter why he, a poor working man, was undeserving of respect.
The businessman bluntly told Doc that he forfeited the right to respect the moment Doc began renting instead of aspiring to own.
I love that movie, but that scene makes me cringe and slightly angry when I hear it.
It presupposes that working-class people aren’t ambitious and enjoy living from check to check. This scene also presupposes that everyone has the same opportunities in life.
If the coronavirus pandemic has shown us anything, that elitist trope just isn’t true.
Over 44 million Americans have been forcibly unemployed since March. Many can’t pay their bills or their rent. This pandemic has shown how tenuously people live. And how the cost of living in America too high for non-rich people.
For most of my life I struggled with rent. Its an awful feeling, wondering if the bills would be paid by the next month.
Or if I would have somewhere to stay.
Now, tens of millions of Americans are dealing with that reality. The rent forbearance and Eviction Protections of the recently passed CARES Act will end soon.
Millions of Americans could soon be homeless.
CARES Act Eviction Protections
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act was ratified by Congress and President
Trump. The CARES Act provided economic stimulus payments and Eviction protections for Americans affected by the pandemic.
The problem is that the $2 trillion-dollar program sent out one-time $1,200 emergency checks and provided short-term rent relief.
As of March 27, 2020, anyone who lives in federally sponsored housing was guaranteed 120 days of eviction protection. So, a 30-day eviction notice can only be given by July 25, 2020.
So, if you are in danger of being evicted, you can’t legally be evicted until August 24, 2020.
That is probably not comforting news. This means that many people with no appreciable income now have 3 or 4 months of back rent to pay.
Landlord and renters who evict people may not have the prospect of hordes of new tenants either. 44 million Americans are unemployed.
If you are facing imminent eviction, keep the lines of communication open with your landlord. Try to negotiate an installment payment plan if possible.
Apply for federal rental assistance, if applicable.
Or, apply for a rent-controlled apartment.
You could contact your local elected official and ask for options.
The most important thing to do is to keep open communications with your landlord.
Being evicted during the deadliest pandemic in a century would be an inhumane thing to experience.
And its a cruel new world.
Read More
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The post CARES Act Rent Eviction Protections Expiring Soon – How to Cope appeared first on Fine-Tuned Finances.
