Housing advocates warn as many as 44,000 renters in Santa Clara County could face evictions in coming months if federal unemployment supplements aren’t extended past July.
A study released Wednesday by the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley and Working Partnerships USA says the damage will fall heaviest on Black and Latinx residents, and could drive up evictions roughly 16 times higher than normal. The advocacy groups estimate the evictions could as much as triple the county’s homeless population.
“The time is now to prevent this eviction time bomb from happening,” said Nadia Aziz, directing attorney at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley.
The warnings come despite state and local eviction moratoriums and landlord surveys finding more than 80 percent of tenants are making at least some payments during the pandemic.
Federal supplements to unemployment insurance, totaling $600 a week for out-of-work adults, are scheduled to end this month unless extended by Congress. Landlords and housing advocates credit the enhanced benefits with helping renters stay current on their monthly payments.
Many expect more poor and working-class renters in the high-priced Bay Area to struggle in the months ahead. Although rents have recently dropped with demand in many cities, Bay Area housing prices are still the highest in the nation. The median rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $2,860 in San Jose, $2,850 in Oakland, and $4,340 in San Francisco, according to apartment listing site Zumper.
Even before the pandemic, the advocacy groups estimated that half of the workers in Silicon Valley paid more than the recommended 30 percent of household income toward housing costs. Many workers in low-wage jobs have seen their incomes shrink or disappear since March, when coronavirus restrictions took hold.
More than 200,000 workers filed unemployment claims in Santa Clara County during the first 2.5 months of the pandemic. The advocacy groups estimate some of the nearly 100,000 undocumented workers in the county have been shut-out of state and federal aid.
Eviction moratoriumS enacted by the state and Bay Area counties and cities offer protection from the courts for struggling renters, but do not erase back rent owed from coronavirus-related loss of income. Within months of the end of the emergency, delinquent tenants can face court orders to leave. Landlords are also able to sue for the unpaid debt.
The nonprofits want a ban on evictions for rent missed because of the pandemic, while allowing landlords to sue for back rent. They also call for enhanced legal assistance, and rent forgiveness for the poorest tenants. They also called for giving renters more than six months to repay their debts.
A handful of property owners have sued to overturn the state judicial council’s eviction moratorium, which has halted court proceedings for almost all landlord-tenant rent disputes.
More Bay Area tenants struggled to make rent during July than the previous year, according to an analysis by real estate data firm RealPage. Between 82 and 89 percent of Bay Area tenants made payments during the first week of July, down 6 to 7 percent from the previous year.
