Millions of Americans, who were thriving before the COVID-19 pandemic, now find themselves in a personal financial crisis.

Told not to work by their local or state government, they’re no longer earning any money.

If they own a business, it’s probably shut down. If they are an employee, chances are they’re no longer receiving a paycheck. As many as 53% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Even a week or two, let alone a month or more, without working creates financial disaster for millions. And in the current pandemic, none of this is their fault.

For most Americans, the number one monthly expense is housing, either paying rent or a mortgage. As the virus crisis has drawn on, and millions of Americans’ savings have dwindled with no new money coming as yet, housing is becoming yet another crisis. Americans who have never contemplated missing a housing payment, now may have to choose between making that payment or feeding themselves and their family, at least until stimulus money arrives.

From California to Colorado and state after state across the country, rent strikes and eviction bans are becoming more popular. It might seem simple to just let renters skip a month or two, but it isn’t. Most apartments and other rental housing owners have a mortgage. Owners depend on the monthly cash flow from their renters to make that mortgage payment. If the rent is no longer coming in, the owner may enter into default, through no more fault of their own.

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