In response to the CDC issuing a nationwide eviction moratorium through Dec 2020, ACRE released the following statement: “Since the beginning of the pandemic, organizers have fought tirelessly to stop evictions & demand rent cancellation.”-@mo87mo87 (🧵)
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Co-Executive Director of ACRE, Maurice BP-Weeks continued, “This pressure made the CDC’s extraordinary step to protect millions from eviction for non-payment of rent through Dec. 31 possible.
“It is unacceptable that this substantive relief measure has come from a fascistic administration using it as an ill-disguised political move timed perfectly to coincide with the election, and it’s not enough.
"Tenants are still accumulating back rent and fines, and are at risk of harassment and retaliation from landlords who wield entirely too much power over tenant’s lives.
"Courts still work to protect landlords who can file evictions for reasons beyond non-payment of rent; & once the moratorium expires, tenants will be left with impossible debts. Though this is a calculated move by the Trump administration, it creates a world of new possibilities.
"Guaranteed housing is a basic necessity & human right. We call on Dems in particular to meet this moment & expand this order to stop all evictions through the pandemic and after, to permanently cancel rent/ mortgages, & to move from our current system towards a #HomesGuarantee.
“This is what it will take to keep millions of people, particularly Black, Brown, and immigrant households, who have disproportionately lost their jobs and their lives, safe during this pandemic.
“The real estate industry is already mobilizing to undermine this order and lobby for rental assistance. It is unconscionable that billionaires and corporate landlords are still profiting from the pandemic.
Corporate landlords, led by some of the wealthiest people in the world are sitting on at least $470 bil that could be used to cancel rent now. For a just recovery, we demand these landlords pay for rent cancellation & monthly housing expenses for the duration of the pandemic”
ACRE recently published a report, “Make Them Pay”, which lays out why elected officials should force corporate landlords to pay for the cancellation of rent, mortgages, and utilities for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full report here: acrecampaigns.org/research_post/…
