Foreclosures, Evictions, and Utility Cutoffs: The Fair Housing Impact of Covid-19 on Black Communities

Abstract

This report by the Thurgood Marshall Institute at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (“LDF”) focuses primarily on the fair housing impacts of COVID-19 on Black communities. To provide context for the housing challenges that Black homeowners disproportionately have experienced, the first section discusses the 2008 foreclosure crisis—caused, in part, by discriminatory lending practices that preyed on Black borrowers—and the losses that Black households continue to suffer as a result. The second section of our report discusses the current eviction epidemic plaguing the United States that is disproportionately impacting Black renters. Next, we provide details on recent legislative measures enacted to protect home owners and renters during the pandemic. We conclude with several policy recommendations—including additional foreclosure, eviction, and water shutoff moratoriums—that federal, state, and local officials should implement to safeguard the communities most likely to be disproportionately impacted by the current pandemic.

Keywords: housing, fair housing, Black homeowners, discriminatory lending, eviction, shutoff moratoriums