With New York State’s eviction moratorium expiring on January 15, New York City is at risk of a massive increase in evictions and homelessness, the latest Poverty Tracker report from Robin Hood finds.

Released in collaboration with Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy and the Columbia Population Research Center, the report, The looming eviction crisis is likely to exacerbate racial and economic inequity in New York City and requires bold policy action (20 pages, PDF), found that New Yorkers who lost employment income due to the COVID-19 pandemic are 50 percent more likely to fall behind on rent than they were before the pandemic, and 55 percent of low-income workers and workers in poverty report pandemic-related income losses. Nearly one in four renters have missed a rent payment in the past year.

According to the report, the looming rise in evictions is not simply a result of the pandemic but a part of a longstanding affordability crisis. Even before the pandemic, about 41 percent of the city’s renter and 67 percent of renters living in poverty were “rent burdened”—defined as paying more than 30 percent of their gross income on rent. Black and Latinx New Yorkers were more likely than white New Yorkers to be rent burdened (44 percent and 45 percent vs. 39 percent), and among those who were rent burdened, 52 percent of Black renters, 55 percent of Latinx renters, and 36 percent of white renters experienced material hardship.

To address the crisis, the report’s authors call for an expansion of the city’s voucher program, CityFHEPS, through targeted reforms, including eliminating the requirement that families must have lived in the shelter system for at least three months or have received an eviction notice and previously been living in a shelter in order to qualify for a voucher; removing the requirement that voucher holders receive public assistance; streamlining documentation requirements and program administration; and ensuring that the value of vouchers more closely reflects the true cost of housing in New York City.

“The causes of this crisis are myriad, and solutions must be, too—from improving rental vouchers so they better prevent evictions and enable more New Yorkers living in shelters to move into permanent housing faster over the long term, to providing emergency funding today,” said Robin Hood CEO Richard R. Buery, Jr. “Right now, our city, state, and federal leaders have an opportunity to make meaningful policy changes that address both the new and longstanding housing challenges our neighbors face. This would be a major investment—but preventing the vicious cycle of generational poverty that comes from evictions and homelessness is worth every dollar.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Nicolas McComber)