Giving Compass' Take:

• The writers at Urban Institue argue that, for landlords who are struggling to pay mortgages and are disproportionately people of color (particularly Black and Hispanic), additional policies could alleviate their financial burdens.

• What are the main drivers of support that communities need to house themselves? How can donors respond? 

• Here's how rising evictions during COVID are hitting kids the hardest.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit renters hard nationwide, with data from the US Census Bureau and the National Multifamily Housing Council showing that millions have missed rent payments or lack confidence in their ability to pay future rents. We also know that renters of colors are struggling more to make their rental payments. But there is little public information about how this country’s 8 million independent landlords are managing.

Avail, a platform that helps do-it-yourself, mom-and-pop landlords manage units and collect rent for 53,000 properties, periodically surveys its landlords and tenants. We worked with Avail to develop questions for its August survey to understand how landlords are managing this crisis and to identify racial and ethnic differences.

We found that Black and Hispanic landlords are struggling to pay their mortgages more than white landlords and are more apt to take mortgage forbearance. Despite the struggles, Black and Hispanic landlords are more likely to offer their tenants a rent payment plan, suggesting these landlords are dedicated to keeping their tenants.

Black and Hispanic landlords are struggling to pay their mortgages
More than one-third of the landlords surveyed earn the majority of their income from their rental properties, but Black and Hispanic landlords have lower incomes, own fewer properties, and are more likely to have a mortgage than own their building outright. As a result, Black and Hispanic landlords are more likely to struggle to make their mortgage payments.

Read the full article about Black and Hispanic landlords by Laurie Goodman and Jung Hyun Choi at Urban Institute.