Are we heading for a major housing crisis in the United States?
The question arises seriously as millions of Americans in financial difficulty find themselves threatened with deportation.
A moratorium that protected tenants in the event of unpaid rents expired overnight from Saturday July 31 to Sunday August 1.
Wanting to avoid social panic, President Joe Biden called on all states to take protective measures for tenants "at least for the next two months."
But what about next?
The Parisian takes stock.
What happened ?
Decided almost a year ago in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the truce on evictions put in place in the country expired at midnight on Saturday. The White House had explained that the health authorities could no longer, for legal reasons, further extend this moratorium. She then asked parliamentarians to legislate urgently. A job that elected officials failed to complete before the House of Representatives ceased its work for the summer break.
The blockade immediately sparked much criticism from the Democratic camp.
The boss of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi called on the head of state to extend the moratorium, arguing that it was a "moral imperative".
For her part, Democrat MP Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the Biden administration for waiting until the last moment to ask Congress to act.
In the process, the elected insisted on the injustice there would be to evict families, while billions of dollars in aid planned by the Biden administration to at least partially solve the problem of unpaid rents n have not been spent.
"We cannot kick people out of their homes when our end of the bargain has not been fulfilled," she blasted on CNN.
CNN's @jaketapper: Who's to blame for the eviction moratorium expiring?
Rep.
@AOC: "There was, frankly, a handful of conservative Democrats in the House that threatened to get on planes rather than hold this vote and we have to really just call a spade a spade."
#CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/FXW7o1SIOD
- State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 1, 2021
Which people are threatened?
More than 10 million people are said to be behind on their rent payments, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an independent research institute, has calculated.
Another alarming figure, 3.6 million tenants believe they risk being evicted within two months, according to a study of 51 million tenants.
Unsurprisingly, minorities remain the most affected by this risk. "There are many black women, with or without children who already had difficulty paying their rent before the health crisis," said Nora Nafaa, a doctoral student specializing in urban policies in the United States. In his book "Eviction Notice", Pulitzer Prize for the 2017 essay, sociologist Matthew Desmond already showed by studying the only city of Milwaukee (Wisconsin) that one in five black women would experience an eviction in her life, against one. Hispanic in 12 and one white in 15.
“Historically, systemic racism had been established in the housing sector.
The minorities have been kept in such a state of poverty that we still find today mainly white landlords and black tenants, ”adds Nora Nafaa.
The concern is all the more about these populations, who remain the hardest hit by the Covid-19.
In what context ?
The threat of these mass evictions is part of a society where the housing market is still fragile. "The sector has not yet stabilized well since the subprime crisis in 2007-2008", recalls the academic. Added to this is a colossal dismantling of social housing since the 1980s. “New York City, considered the model to follow, has only 5 to 6% of social housing, while Paris has 17% and Amsterdam, 52. % ”, Underlines Nora Nafaa.
Another observation is that the restart of the American economy is pushing up prices: between June 2020 and June 2021, the median rent in the United States climbed by 8.1%, according to the real estate site Realtor.
The fear is now to see a real estate bubble appear.
"Some observers believe that the situation could be worse than during the subprime loans because the crisis this time affects both landlords, who no longer receive their rents, tenants who for some have lost their jobs with the Covid, and the federal state who acts as guarantor when families cannot repay their loans, ”she analyzes.
What possible levers?
While waiting for an end to the crisis, several progressive states like California and New York have taken measures to protect their inhabitants until the end of August. And after ? “One of the levers for the federal state would be to bring Congress together again, to extend the state of emergency to freeze these expulsions,” argues Nora Nafaa. But this truce was exceptional. Many Americans now see federal action as an obstacle to state freedom ”.
Another possibility, the White House could maintain the one-off aid planned to help the most disadvantaged to partially pay their rents. But the task will prove to be difficult without more local relays, believes the researcher. The proof: lack of logistics, only 3 billion dollars have so far been distributed to tenants…. out of an envelope of 46 billion dollars.