CFPB: 10 Pct Of US Households At Risk Of Eviction, Foreclosure

A new Consumer Finance Protection Bureau report says that there are currently 11 million people at risk of losing their housing, whether by evictions or foreclosure.

That figure comes out to almost 10 percent of U.S. households.

The report calls it “common sense that safe, affordable, and stable housing provides the foundation for people’s well-being, financial and otherwise.”

“Stable homes mean stable neighborhoods and communities,” the report reads. “When people lose their homes, their lives, health, and finances are all disrupted. Even the threat of losing a family’s home can force tough financial decisions, including skipping payments on food, medicine, and heat to keep a roof over their head.”

The report also notes that particularly Black and Hispanic communities will be feeling the pain of this data, as they’ve still not recovered from the last economic crisis. The report says those communities bear a “disproportionate” financial and health burden right now.

Further down in the report, the CFPB notes that the numbers of homeowners behind on their mortgages has doubled since the pandemic began, and more homeowners are now behind on their mortgages than any point since 2010 — the peak of the Great Recession. There are 2.1 million homeowners more than 90 days behind on payments, which is considered “seriously behind” on payments. And Black and Hispanic families are twice as likely to report being behind as opposed to white families.

There are also around 8.8 million tenant households reporting being behind on rent, with almost 10 percent of renters saying they’re likely to be evicted in the next two months — and again, Black and Hispanic renters are disproportionately high among those numbers.

There’s aid meant to go to those behind on housing, but it’s being held back by fraud-related fears, PYMNTS writes. The issue is that the systems connected to these processes simply were not meant to handle the sheer volume of COVID-related aid.