‘We are very concerned.’ California tenants still struggling to make rent, study finds
Thousands of California tenants are still struggling to pay rent and fear impending evictions, a new California Housing Partnership report found, despite unprecedented levels of emergency financial assistance and renter protections during the coronavirus pandemic.
As of last month, about one in four California tenants said they had no or slight confidence they could pay next months rent. California renters of color have disproportionately struggled to pay rent during the pandemic, according to the report: An average of 19% of Black renters, 17% of Latino renters and 17% of Asian renters said they fell behind on rent in the last year, compared to 8% of white renters.
Published this month, the analysis spans the last 17 months of the pandemic and is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, a new survey which began last year to track how COVID-19 is impacting people.
Though the share of renters behind on rent is lower now than peaks in May 2020 and December 2020, the figure has continued to fluctuate between roughly 10% and 20% throughout the pandemic. In June of this year, more than half of California tenants behind on rent reported that it was very or somewhat likely they could be evicted in the next two months.
Major state and local rental assistance programs began rolling out funds to residents in the spring as businesses began to reopen more fully, which could explain the slight decline in tenants behind on rent in the early months of 2021. But by the end of July, the percentage of renters behind on rent rose again to 15%.
Overall, the data reveals sustained high rates of housing instability across the board, according to policy research manager Lindsay Rosenfeld, who oversaw the report.
“We are not yet seeing consistent relief despite the presence of eviction moratoriums or emergency rental assistance and are very concerned about what will happen after the state moratorium expires,” she said in a statement.
Black and Latino renters were most likely to say they’re unsure whether they could pay next month’s rent, a likely reflection of people of color disproportionately working low-paying jobs or positions that were more impacted by closures during the pandemic like those in the service and hospitality industries.
Fears of eviction were prevalent among almost all race and ethnic groups, according to the analysis. Over the last year, 44% of Latino renters, 43% of white renters, 40% of Black renters, and 21% of Asian renters reported that it was very or somewhat likely they would be evicted in the next two months.
California’s coronavirus eviction moratorium is set to expire Friday, which tenant advocates have said could spur a wave of new evictions disproportionately impacting renters of color. California tenants have also faced significant delays in receiving rental assistance payments they qualify for.
Already as of May, roughly 600 Sacramento County residents were evicted since the beginning of the pandemic. Millions in rental and utility assistance funding is also still available for Sacramento County residents, about $35 million. Renters can apply through the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, which is still accepting applications for the emergency assistance fund.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘We are very concerned.’ California tenants still struggling to make rent, study finds."