Goldman Sachs estimates 750K households face eviction after moratorium ends
30 August 2021
A new report from Goldman Sachs released Sunday estimates that about 750,000 households could face eviction later this year unless Congress acts or rental assistance funds are more quickly distributed.
Why it matters: The Supreme Court blocked President Biden's eviction moratorium last week, dealing a major blow to the administration's hopes of preventing vulnerable Americans from losing housing during the pandemic.
The big picture: Roughly 2.5 million to 3.5 million American households are behind on their rent, according to the Goldman report. They owe landlords between $12 billion and $17 billion.
- Many state-level eviction restrictions are set to expire over the next month, according to the report.
- Mass evictions will take place unless Congress acts or federal Emergency Rental Assistance funds are distributed more quickly, the report said.
What to watch: According to the report, evictions are likely to be "particularly pronounced in the cities hardest hit" by COVID-19 because they have stronger apartment rental markets.
- The eviction of 750,000 households could also create a "small drag" on spending and job growth, the report said.
Our thought bubble, via Axios' Felix Salmon: Evictions nationwide remain low compared to pre-pandemic levels of about 1 million per year. Federal Emergency Rental Assistance funding, in theory, could prevent a late-2021 spike in evictions, but it's being distributed very slowly by the states. In practice, it's likely to arrive too late for hundreds of thousands of households.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.