On Friday Minnesota Rep Ilhan Omar unveiled a new bill that seeks to “institute a nationwide cancellation of rents and home mortgage, payments though the duration of the coronavirus pandemic”.
What We Know:
- The Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act is the name of the bill Rep. Omar designed to help millions of people who are financially strained due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- On her website, Omar wrote a long document explaining the act which includes payment forgiveness, with no accumulation of debt for renters or homeowners and no negative impact on people’s credit rating or rental history.
- The document also states it will help out landlords and mortgage holders by creating a relief fund that will cover any financial losses that come from the canceled payments.
- National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates it would cost about $76.1 billion over 12 months to provide relief to the 11.5 million people who are already or soon will become severely housing cost-burdened.
- According to Blavity, “The bill was backed by many progressive groups across the country and has been cosponsored by Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Pramila Paypal, Veronica Escobar, Jesus Garcia, Mark Pocan and Grace Meng”.
- Omar also held a virtual press conference to announce the bill through her Facebook page, explaining many of the provisions inside of it.
The terms with renter’s protections would prohibit rent increases, evictions without just cause, discrimination against voucher holders and more. Any owner or mortgagee who breaks the terms would be subject to a fine.
