Lest We Forget
PHADA President John T. Mahon.
This edition of the Advocate will hit electronic and regular mailboxes right around the sixth anniversary of when the world effectively shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In many ways, those days seem long ago, and in other ways, they seem like yesterday. In any case, the pandemic changed our world and some of the changes still affect society and the housing programs we administer.
According to data on the World Health Organization’s website, more than seven million individuals perished during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among that total are 1.2 million Americans. Sadly, many of us lost family members, friends, colleagues, and residents, especially in 2020–22.
March 2020
As its name implies, COVID-19 started in 2019. Still, our most vivid memories fall around March 2020 when schools, businesses, sports leagues, government offices, and other institutions shuttered, with many shifting to an online virtual mode and people told to stay in their homes as much as possible. Many of us could not close our doors, and in fact, stepped up our operations, delivering critical services to vulnerable low-income residents.
While we continue to thank and recognize the tireless efforts of front-line heroes during this time, our staff worked in front of the front lines, taking critical and innovative steps to help our most vulnerable tenants to avoid the spread of COVID-19 and further stress emergency and medical services. With residents largely restricted to their apartments, maintenance was not only challenging, but it was also essential… and we did it!
Declining Revenues
The pandemic had a major economic impact on both private market landlords and public housing administrators. Due to the now expired eviction moratorium and other factors, high tenant accounts receivable (TARs) continue raising concerns about the fiscal solvency of some HAs. In just the last few years, Congress has increased the amount for the public housing operating fund shortfall by several hundred million dollars. Rising TARs are one of the main reasons HAs have fallen into shortfall status in both their public housing and HCV programs. The TARs situation was also one of the main reasons PHADA strongly objected to HUD’s misguided rule on the 30-day notice for non-payment of rent during the Biden Administration. That rule was only recently rescinded (see the separate article in this edition), but its effects still linger.
Inflation
Aside from its massive health implications, COVID-19 triggered a global inflation surge driven by a combination of supply chain disruptions, shifts in consumer demand, and massive fiscal stimulus. Pandemic-related supply constraints, such as port closures and labor shortages, collided with a rapid rebound in demand, causing prices to spike globally.
Impact on Housing Markets, Workforce
Supply chain problems and other factors that increased inflationary pressures have subsided, but are still significant, especially in the rental market. Many of us have seen dramatic hikes in local rents, insurance, and other costs, resulting in large cost increases in the Housing Choice Voucher program at a time when the federal government budget is strained, and some Washington policymakers are looking to cut it more.
This is especially problematic in relation to the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program—a $5 billion federal initiative to help the most vulnerable populations find housing. The program runs out of money this year. Many agencies are effectively prohibited from issuing new vouchers and are now struggling with ways to continue both regular and emergency housing voucher assistance. At the same time, HUD recently indicated there will be insufficient voucher renewal funding available this year (see detailed article here).
For some employers, changes in the workforce environment that started with Covid have made it harder to find and retain quality staff. Our industry was already undergoing rapid turnover in the leadership at individual HAs and the pandemic hastened the pace. While many U.S. workers have returned to the office, or are working under a hybrid format, the increased volume of telework has had an economic impact on some communities.
Remembering Those We Lost and Housing’s Important Role
It has been more than 2,000 days since the onset of the pandemic. There is no question that its ramifications will persist well into the future. As we mark the six-year anniversary, it is important to remember those we lost. Likewise, we must remind ourselves—and policymakers—how instrumental our services were in helping millions of low-income people make it through what we hope was a once-in-a-lifetime event.