INDIANAPOLIS — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium is helping Hoosiers who are unable to pay rent stay in their homes, but some local landlords say it’s preventing them from making a living.
President Joe Biden recently signed another extension of the CDC’s eviction moratorium that will last through March and some landlords say it is getting more difficult to cover the costs of owning a property when tenants are living there without paying rent.
“It has been tough. It has been really tough as a landlord to be able to sustain in this current environment,” said Sterling Davis with Ethosity Property Management.
“We have to continue to make our mortgage payments, we have to continue to make our property tax payments and if we're not getting that money from the tenants, then we have to come up with that money,” said Grant Anderson, a local property owner and manager.
Both say the eviction moratorium is putting landlords in a tough spot, as many rely on rental payments as their source of income.
“We make money on a monthly basis so that we can put food on the table for our families, but also so that we can give a great product to the tenants. Now we’re not talking about one month of not being able to have rent, we’re not talking about two months, this has nearly gone on a year of not being able to have constant rental flow,” said Davis.
Anderson said he has one tenant who has only made two payments in the past 11 months. Anderson said the tenant applied for rental assistance but was denied because his income did not change due to the pandemic. Still a judge ruled in favor of the tenant, saying he was currently protected from eviction under the CDC’s moratorium.
“The government tells us we can't evict this person, but yet they denied him assistance. That doesn’t seem right,” said Anderson.
Now they’re worried about what will happen next if changes or new programs aren’t made available soon. They predict we could start to see foreclosures on the very rental properties occupied by residents this moratorium is designed to protect.
Davis and Anderson say they’re hoping assistance becomes available for people in their position and other local property owners. “These aren't big guys in New York, no. These are your local neighbors that are just trying to provide a service to benefit and enhance their community,” said Davis.
