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WELCOME TO "MATTER OF FACT." THE RENT IS DUE AGAIN. AND NEARLY 10 MILLION PEOPLE WON’T BE ABLE TO PAY IT. YET HOME PRICES AND HOME SALES ARE SOARING. INEQUALITY HAS BEEN THE HALLMARK OF THE PANDEMIC AND OF RECOVERY. COVID-19 DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTS BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITIES. AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY IS UNEVENLY OUT OF REACH FOR THEM. MANY PEOPLE WILL TELL YOU THEY NEVER THOUGHT THEY’D BE IN THIS POSITION. PEOPLE LIKE DARLENE TURNER IN THE BRONX. WHEN WE SPOKE WITH HER LAST SUMMER, SHE WAS FOUR MONTHS BEHIND ON HER RENT. DARLENE: I WORKED FOR A RESTAURANT DOWN IN THE CITY WHICH HAS CLOSED DOWN DUE TO THE PANDEMIC. I WORKED FOR 34 YEARS AT MY HOTEL, AND I’VE NEVER BEEN UNEMPLOYED. SO, ALL THIS IS THE FIRST TIME FOR ME. I HAVE BEEN LIVING IN THIS BUILDING AND APARTMENT FOR FOUR YEARS. SOLEDAD: ACCORDING TO A NEW ANALYSIS FROM THE URBAN INSTITUTE, THE TYPICAL DELINQUENT RENTER OWES $6,000. THAT’S INCLUDING UTILITIES AND LATE FEES THAT KEEP PILING UP. JIM PARROT IS A NONRESIDENT FELLOW AT THE URBAN INSTITUTE AND CO-AUTHORED THE RECENT REPORT ON UNPAID RENT IN AMERICA. JIM, THANKS FOR JOINING ME. WE KNOW THAT ONE IN SIX RENTERS ARE BEHIND IN THEIR PAYMENTS THAT THEY RISK EVICTION, AND THAT EVEN THOSE WHO WERE ABLE TO KEEP THEIR JOBS DURING THE PANDEMIC ARE STRUGGLING. THERE’S A HUGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE ALMOST ZERO DOLLARS IN SAVINGS AND ACTUALLY NOT A LOT OF FOOD IF THEY DON’T HAVE INCOME COMING IN OR IF THERE ARE OTHER PRESSURES ON THAT INCOME. JIM: SO, RENTERS IN PARTICULAR HAVE MUCH LESS SAVINGS ON AVERAGE THAN OTHERS. YOU’VE GOT, EVEN BEFORE THE CRISIS, RENTERS WERE SAVING ON AVERAGE ABOUT $450 A YEAR, AS OPPOSED TO $10,000 FOR HOMEOWNERS. SO, THEY’VE GOT VERY LITTLE TO FALL BACK ON IN A TIME OF STRESS. SO, WHEN THEIR REVENUE STREAM TAKES THE HIT, AS IT IS RIGHT NOW, THEY’RE MUCH MORE INCLINED TO BE FORCED TO RESORT TO GOVERNMENT HELP, TO RELYING ON FRIENDS AND FAMILY, TO RELYING ON CREDIT. AND SO, YOU’RE SEEING RIGHT NOW THAT TIME OF STRESS AND YOU’RE SEEING THEM SORT OF MOVE PRETTY QUICKLY THROUGH THAT BUFFER. SOLEDAD: WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE WHO ARE LANDLORDS? JIM: IT’S REALLY AN UNTOLD PART OF ALL THIS, WHICH IS THE VAST MAJORITY OF LANDLORDS IN THE COUNTRY ARE SORT OF SO-CALLED MOM AND POP. THEY ARE NOT THE BIG CORPORATE LANDLORDS THAT HAVE ENORMOUS HIGH RISES. THEY’RE RENTING OUT TO FOLKS. AND THE SOLUTION TO DATE HAS BEEN LARGELY AN EVICTION MORATORIUM, SO THAT THE SOLUTION FOR RENTERS HAS BEEN TO TELL THEM, "IT’S OK, YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY FOR THE TIME BEING, YOU WON’T BE EVICTED." BUT THAT’S NOT A SOLUTION FOR THE LANDLORDS. THAT JUST MEANS THEIR RENT IS GOING TO DRY UP UNTIL AND UNLESS SOME OTHER RELIEF COMES INTO THE PICTURE. SO, IT’S A BIG STRAIN ON LANDLORDS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY FOR SURE. SOLEDAD: AND IT’S NOT EXACTLY A SOLUTION TO JUST NOT HAVE TO PAY AT THIS MOMENT. I MEAN, THERE ARE PEOPLE, I THINK THE AVERAGE IS SOMETHING LIKE BETWEEN $4500 AND $6000 IN BACK RENT. AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE FINANCIAL CRISIS FROM 2008, SEVEN MILLION HOUSEHOLDS WERE IMPACTED, FORECLOSED UPON. AND THOSE PEOPLE STILL RECOVERING FROM THAT CRISIS, THE NUMBERS ARE HIGHER. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT WILL BE THE LONG-TERM IMPACT OF THIS CRISIS? JIM: AS YOU SAY, THERE WERE ABOUT SEVEN MILLION FOLKS THAT WENT INTO FORECLOSURE OVER A FIVE-YEAR PERIOD IN THE HEIGHT OF THE ECONOMIC RECESSION. AND WE’RE TALKING ABOUT 10 MILLION FOLKS THAT MIGHT FACE EVICTION OR STRAIN FROM BA RENT ALL AT ONCE. AND SO, THE LEVEL OF STRESS COMING OUT OF THIS IS IN SOME WAYS MORE ACUTE THAN WHAT WE FACED BACK THEN. YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT MILLIONS OF FOLKS THAT COULD BE PUSHED OUT ONTO THE STREET IN THE HEIGHT OF A PANDEMIC. AND THAT’S SOMETHING THAT YOU DON’T REVERSE THE DAMAGE FROM QUICKLY OR READILY. SOLEDAD: SO, WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A CRISIS. BUT IT DOESN’T REALLY GET COVERED LIKE IT’S A CRISIS THAT WE’RE SEEING UNFOLDING IN FRONT OF US, I THINK. JIM: I THINK THE REASON IS WE’VE HAD THIS EVICTION MORATORIUM IN PLACE FOR A WHILE, AND IT’S GOING TO GO THROUGH THE END OF MARCH. SO, AS A RESULT, YOU JUST DON’T SEE THE DISTRESS THAT WE’VE TALKED ABOUT. YOU DON’T SEE THE EFFECT OF THE 10 MILLION FOLKS WHO AREN’T PAYING THEIR MORTGAGE. YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER EIGHT MILLION FOLKS THAT CLAIM THEY MIGHT NOT PAY NEXT MONTH IN THE NEXT MONTH. BUT THE MOMENT THAT EVICTION MORATORIUM GETS LIFTED, ALL THAT STRESS IS GOING TO FLOW THROUGH THE SYSTEM IN THE FORM OF EVICTIONS, HOMELESSNESS, ECONOMIC DISTRESS AT A COMMUNITY LEVEL. SO, IF WE DON’T SEE RELIEF, AT A PRETTY SIZABLE LEVEL, PRETTY SOON, IT’LL GO FROM BEING THE KIND OF ISSUE NONE OF US SEE TO THE KIND OF ISSUE YOU’LL SEE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF EVERY PAPER DAY IN AND DAY OUT, UNFORTUNATELY. SOLEDAD: JIM PARROTT IS