An estimated 30 percent of Americans failed to pay their rent on time in April as tens of millions left without jobs.
The debate on whether people should still be made to pay rent after they have been forced from their jobs will be highlighted again as tens of thousands of tenants across the U. S. are expected to take part in a mass strike in order to help ease the financial burden brought on as a result of the coronavirus.
A coordinated day of action had been planned by groups across the country urging people who have lost their jobs as a result of the virus and lockdown procedures to withhold paying their rent on Friday, May 1.
The strike is not only planning to help the millions of Americans forced out of work amid the outbreak, but also to put pressure on state government officials to implement moratoriums on evictions if tenants are struggling to pay.
Dozens of states already imposed temporary moratorium on evictions for April and into May, but many have no such measures in place, leaving millions at risk of losing their homes.
The National Multifamily Housing Council, which represents apartment owners and managers, previously revealed that 31 percent of renters didn’t make their payment in the first week of April, compared to the norm of around 20 percent.
While it is unclear how many people will purposely withhold their rent payment on May 1, organizations across the country are predicting that thousands of their members will take part.
Housing Justice for All, a coalition of dozens of New York-based groups, has attracted more than 13,000 signatures on an online form from people promising to take part in the strike.
More than 12,000 members of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) have said they will take part in withholding their payments in order to put pressure on Governor Gavin Newsom to cancel rent and mortgage payments.
Miriam Goff, a mother of two living in Chula Vista, California, is one of those who has vowed to take part in the strike.
“I have been out of work for over a month due to COVID-19 and I don’t know if I’m going to have a job when this is all over,” she said in a statement via the ACCE. “What I want to ask the government is to think about the millions of us who were living paycheck to paycheck and do not have savings to pay rent.
