Nation Pandemic Impact
Small Landlords Forced Out of Protacted moratoruums intended to protect renters are hurting small landlords who rely on the income
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By Steven Kovac xtended rent moratoriums and the slow distribution of billions in federal rent assistance are driving many small landlords to
call it quits. “Nobody wants to become a landlord anymore,” said Diane Baird, executive director of the Lake Erie Landlord Association, which represents landlords in northern Ohio, southern Michigan, and western Pennsylvania. “And we have very few new people entering into the business.” “Multiple landlords have told me they are selling out,” Jon Frickensmith, president of the South Wisconsin Landlord Association, told The Epoch Times. “They ask us how to get out of the business and how to get the tenants out of their houses. These are mom-and-pop operators, the kind of landlords that are willing to take tenants with bad credit or a criminal history. This will only add to the housing crisis.” The vast majority of landlords in the United States are individuals, with most owning one or two rental houses. In Michigan, more than $500 million in federal pandemic emergency assistance funds remain unspent, with thousands of applications for aid mired in state and municipal bureaucracies. “Everyone in the process agrees the application process is flawed. The problems created by the system are intensified for private owners,” Greg Stremers, an attorney in Port Huron, Michigan, told The Epoch Times. “Many property owners are selling off their properties, creating an even deeper shortage of rental properties. When I process an eviction, the tenants are having difficulty finding a new place to live, which is driving rents higher.”
44 I N S I G H T August 20–27, 2021
Maricopa County constable Darlene Martinez serves residents with an eviction order in Phoenix, Arizona, in late 2020.
JOHN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES
