As many as 40 million people were at risk of losing their homes because of the coronaviruses epidemic.
The situation got so bad for tenants that it revealed long-term issues of housing instability caused by rapidly rising rents and stagnant wages.
It led to action.
Over the last two years, many states and cities have passed laws giving tenants more rights.
The Covid epidemic has led to a new era of renter protections in the U.S., according to Kshama Sawant, a member of the Seattle City Council.
"Facing a mountain of debt and a likely wave of evictions, tens of thousands of renters have responded by organizing their buildings and unifying with their tenants across cities and across the country," she said.
During the public health crisis, eviction rates were expected to increase to historic levels. They dropped off.
Congress allocated a pot of rental assistance of $45 billion, and the federal and local moratoriums on evictions are also to blame for the reversal.
Despite many legal challenges, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention implemented a nationwide ban on most evictions in September 2020.
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In the absence of a federal eviction ban, many states and cities have kept their own limits on the proceedings in place, leaving half of renters in the U.S. with some protections against displacement.
The eviction moratoriums in New Jersey and New York will last until January 2022. Los Angeles, Seattle, and Austin all have bans in place.
Since federal rental assistance has been slow to reach people, some states have allowed renters to temporarily stop their evictions if they can show they are applying for aid.
The federal government never issued a countrywide ban on evictions. Governors and courts announced a week or twomoratoriums after the Sept. 11 terror attack.
Other policies aim to address deep-rooted problems for renters.
According to the Government Accountability Office, before Covid, 1 in 2 renters in the U.S. were considered rent-burdened, meaning a third or more of their income went to their housing. Research shows that many tenants spent half of their earnings on rent.
The mayor of Santa Ana, California, said his city has lost more than 20,000 residents over the last decade due to rising housing costs. The current population is over 300,000.
People are still working here, but they can't afford to live here.
In October, the city passed a bill limiting rent increases to no more than 3% in a year, or 80% of the consumer price index change for the year, whichever is less. Rents can't go up if there's no inflation.
The policy went into effect on November 19th. He said that the hardship caused by the Pandemic was the final push.
He said that he saw desperation from residents who realized they couldn't sustain the increases.
In Saint Paul, Minnesota, residents voted this month in favor of a rent control policy that will limit increases to 3% a year.
In September, legislators in Seattle passed a bill requiring landlords to pay the moving costs for tenants who can't afford to stay in their homes after their rent is increased by 10% or more. The policy will go into effect in July.
The new law will be a bulwark against the epidemic of what's known as 'economic eviction', where a landlord pushes a tenant out by increasing rent by outrageous amounts. Rents have gone up by 70% in Seattle.
She said that the private market has failed to meet the needs of ordinary people.
Legislation has been introduced to cap rent increases in Seattle. Sawant said that they won't stop until they win full rent control.
There has been a new era of renter protections in the US.
Rent control is criticized by landlord groups and some economists.
Greg Brown, senior vice president of government affairs at the National Apartment Association, said that the policies interfered with a housing provider's ability to respond to economic and operational needs and hurt local communities by driving out existing housing providers and dis-incentivizing development of new housing.
It's the rising rents that are most threatening.
He said that it really affects our economic health. If you have to spend 70% of your wages on rent, you're not buying goods and services in the community. People are not shopping.
The movement to get renters free legal representation has been accelerated by the Pandemic.
Most landlords show up to eviction hearings with a lawyer, while tenants can't afford one, according to housing advocates.
In the last year, seven cities and three states have passed legislation guaranteeing renters the right to legal representation if they are evicted.
John Pollock is the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel.
