AIN Statement on the Eviction Crisis

The Arizona Interfaith Network (AIN) calls on our elected officials to act swiftly to address the state’s impending rental eviction tsunami.  Tens of thousands of Arizonans stand to lose their homes in the global pandemic, disproportionately affecting lower income and vulnerable families.  

We call on the Congressional Delegation, Governor Ducey, and local officials to create the means for tenants and landlords to get through the next six months.  This includes extending a state eviction moratorium until June, providing needed new federal relief assistance funds to landlords and tenants, and creating standardized and flexible means to access these resources.  We also implore the state to dedicate a substantial portion of its remaining $313 million in CARES funds towards replenishing Arizona Department of Housing funds for eviction prevention.

In our congregations and in the communities they serve, we are hearing from families being forced to relocate into overcrowded and unsafe conditions, even moving into campgrounds, because they were evicted from their homes. Many parents are foregoing food to pay their rent. Others who have already contracted the virus and lost their jobs, are now worried about being evicted on January 1st!  This virus creates a triple threat to low-income, people of color, and immigrant families. 

Without extending the CDC’s eviction moratorium that expires Dec. 31, the National Council of State Housing Agencies estimates that, in Arizona, between 170,000 to 250,000 renters are at risk for eviction by January 2021. Currently, tenants are estimated to owe $178 million to landlords, with approximately 40% of those landlords being small business owners. The US Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey estimates that almost 400,000 Arizona households have little to no confidence they will be able to pay the rent in January.

The human toll is mounting as families are facing desperate choices. The Center for Economic Progress states that, right now in Arizona, 1 in 3 families struggle to pay usual household expenses; 1 in 5 are behind on rent; and 1 in 8 will find themselves without enough food. From November 1 through 22 alone, 2,246 evictions were filed in Phoenix.

We need our elected leaders to act now to keep families in their homes and prevent landlords from being foreclosed on their rental properties. Only by addressing both aspects of this issue can we effectively prevent a larger public health crisis and continue to fight the spread of COVID-19. This is a non-partisan, moral issue. The health and wellbeing of every Arizonan depend on this.