Thread by @StefanKertesz

1/Preventing evictions saved lives during this pandemic writes Matt Desmond (aka @just_shelter) in this new piece - one key problem is we haven't acted to deal with the prepandemic situation. Normally, we have 7 eviction filings per minute nytimes.com/2021/09/30/opi…

2/The national eviction moratorium lasted 331 days, averting 1.6m evictions, reducing pandemic deaths by 11%. Southeastern states, where evictions are⬆️& vaccinations⬇️have not robustly acted to limit evictions, he writes

3/Small landlords have lost real money. However foreclosures on their properties are ⬇️78% vs prepandemic era, due to a moratorium on foreclosures. The $47bn Congress allocated to protect tenants & landlords has been very slow in distribution...

4/The op-ed we published in Alabama in March said that delivering relief funds efficiently would require a full court press.
We got a lot of "how dare you say we can't spend the money?" feedback (and we were right to be worried) al.com/news/birmingha…

5/Looking forward, @just_shelter says we need a nation that in which eviction does not feel like the 1st option. It separates "children from parents, workers from jobs, students from schools". It is a kind of "scorched earth" tactic on families

6/Not investing in affordable housing means that when minimum wages rise, the benefit is temporary, until landlords follow up when they raise rents and eat up the gains philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/a…

6/Parts of the proposed Build Back Better Act would invest $327bn in affordable housing, in part to expand 7ental assistance & finance construction of rental housing. Whether that bill passes or not, those are the kinds of things that deliver affordable rents for poor families

8/The final word from Matt Desmond (aka @just_shelter )
“The road to more opportunities and less inequality runs through affordable housing” .... check it out: nytimes.com/2021/09/30/opi…