National Council of State Housing Agencies Estimates Renters Nationwide Will Owe $34 Billion in Back Rent by January 2021

 The National Council of State Housing Agencies released a report last week that estimates that by January renters nationwide could owe up to $34 billion in back rent due to the pandemic. An estimated 8.4 million households could face eviction proceedings at the beginning of the year if Congress fails to provide additional relief to renters. 71% of those households make less than $50,000 per year. An additional report released by the Pew Research Center finds that a quarter of adults are struggling to pay their bills, a third have had to dip into their savings or retirement accounts, and one sixth have borrowed money from friends or family to get by. Roughly a third of low-income adults told Pew researchers that they have struggled to cover their rent or mortgage payments since the beginning of the pandemic. Read more.