- The coronavirus pandemic has led to a potential increase in evictions, with hundreds of tenants demanding rent relief and warning of a surge in eviction cases.
- The economic crisis caused by the pandemic could result in a homelessness crisis if evictions continue as normal.
- Evictions have long-term consequences for individuals and communities, including job loss, substandard housing, and difficulties in obtaining new housing.
- The lack of affordable housing in the US has been exacerbated by the pandemic, with rents rising faster than incomes.
- Evictions disproportionately affect people of color, particularly black households and women of color.
- The federal moratorium on evictions only paused evictions, not rent payments, leaving many renters with increasing bills.
- Some landlords have been threatening tenants despite the protections in place, while others have shown generosity by waiving rent.
- The solution cannot solely rely on landlords' goodwill, and comprehensive plans are needed to address the eviction crisis.

- Landlords are ending emails with "now let's get on with our miserable lives" as a reflection of the current situation
- Even with eviction moratoriums in place, landlords are filing for evictions, leading to a backlog of cases
- Some landlords argue that tenants should have prepared better for the situation
- Rent strikes and rent cancellation are being advocated for by desperate tenants
- Rental assistance programs have limited funds and are unable to address the scope of the problem
- Cities can only do so much without federal intervention and funding
- The House passed the HEROES Act for rental assistance, but it has stalled in the Senate
- Renters are facing evictions and the consequences of inaction are severe
- Urgent action is needed to address the affordable housing crisis and prevent further crises for vulnerable renters and their communities.

With evictions set to rise due to the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus, John Oliver discusses the long struggle with housing in the US, why it’s gotten worse in recent months, and how to prevent an escalating crisis.

Connect with Last Week Tonight online... 

Subscribe to the Last Week Tonight YouTube channel for more almost news as it almost happens: www.youtube.com/lastweektonight 

Find Last Week Tonight on Facebook like your mom would: www.facebook.com/lastweektonight 

Follow us on Twitter for news about jokes and jokes about news: www.twitter.com/lastweektonight 

Visit our official site for all that other stuff at once: www.hbo.com/lastweektonight

Our main story tonight concerns the coronavirus.

Among other things, the worst thing to happen to weddings since flash mobs.

And the reason we're talking about it is that we have a huge COVID-related catastrophe that's actually just around the corner.

Hundreds of tenants rallying this week, demanding rent relief.

They warn the next few months could see the largest number of eviction cases ever.

As if things weren't already bad enough, in the middle of a pandemic, we may be about to see evictions on the rise.

And on the list of things you hope never to see on the rise, evictions have to be right up at the top, tied of course, with Larry King's penis.

That thing going up is just not what our current situation requires.

And while evictions rising is shocking, it was also completely foreseeable.

Coronavirus has played havoc with employment, making it difficult for many to make rent, which was always going to have significant consequences, given that about one-third of U.S.

Households are renters, and renters tend to have lower incomes than homeowners in the first place.

And while stimulus checks, expanded unemployment insurance, and state and federal moratoriums on evictions undoubtedly helped hold back the tide, Those mechanisms are now starting to run out or expire.

And if we do nothing, experts are predicting horrific outcomes with millions of people left vulnerable.

This is the worst economic crisis the United States has seen in generations.

If nothing else changes and evictions continue as normal, then this public health crisis will turn into a full-blown homelessness crisis.

The coronavirus crisis could also soon turn into a full-blown homelessness crisis.

And it's hard to even fathom something already so bad transforming into something else so appalling.

It's like finding out that Magikarp, objectively the worst Pokemon for obvious reasons, is set to evolve into Kevin Spacey.

I should've traded you for Psyduck when I had the chance.

And it says something about the utter absurdity of what's about to happen, that this is how some eviction hearings will be taking place.

Starting with tomorrow's docket, Judge Lopez will start hearing eviction cases, either in the court, using webcams with the defendant and the plaintiff in separate rooms, over Zoom or even on the phone.

You know, it might be worth thinking twice about what you're taking part in if you're throwing people out of their homes via Zoom, a platform you're only using because it's not safe for people to leave their homes.

Besides, Zoom shouldn't be where you find out that you're getting evicted.

It should be where you find out in a virtual happy hour which 1 of your coworkers has been secretly rich the whole time.

Look, the fact is, we're about to go out of our way to throw people out of their homes at the worst possible time.

And even in normal times, evictions are incredibly damaging with long, long-term effects.

On the community level, they've been linked to heightened residential instability, substandard housing, declines in neighborhood quality, and job loss.

And on the individual level, they can be completely devastating in ways that you may not even realize, from families losing their possessions and having to start over, to significant difficulties in obtaining new housing, something that can be hard to do with an eviction on your record.

Evictions have consequences that can haunt you for the rest of your life.

So tonight, with rent due in just 3 days, we thought it might be a good time to talk about evictions.

And let's start with the fact that the lack of affordable housing is yet another systemic problem that the coronavirus has thrown into harsh relief.

Because to be clear, It was a crisis in this country long before the pandemic struck, with rents so high and renters so burdened that stories like these became a staple on local news.

A chaotic scene as hundreds make a run for the door and a chance at Dallas County housing vouchers.

At least 8 people suffered injuries while trying to line up this morning.

Saw people running, so I started running, and I slipped and fell all over the pavement.

Jordan Spivey's all scuffed up after taking quite a tumble this morning, but grateful she wasn't trampled, too.

No 1 should ever be trampled by a crowd of people out of desperation to get rental assistance.

There are only 2 times when trampling is remotely acceptable, the day after Thanksgiving, that's America's national trampling holiday, and whatever day in the future the PS5 comes out.

I don't care that it looks like an alien's waffle maker or a penguin designed by Apple.

It's gonna have Horizon Forbidden West as an exclusive release, and I will stomp anyone who stands between me and that game.

I want to murder dinosaur robots with flaming arrows, and I want to do it now." Now, that particular stampede was nearly a decade ago, but unfortunately, the problem has only gotten worse since then.

Rents have risen significantly faster than incomes, to the point where, for renters below the poverty line, the majority are spending more than half of their income on housing, and a quarter are paying 70 percent or more, which is just not remotely sustainable.

Meanwhile, around a million households have been evicted each year for over a decade, and all of this disproportionately impacts people of color, as black households, for instance, are twice as likely as white households to face eviction, and women of color, particularly black women, are especially vulnerable to it.

So, things have clearly been bad for a long time, but once the pandemic hit, like everything else, they got even worse.

And yet, you might have assumed that there was a freeze on rent payments if you listened to decomposing melon Larry Kudlow laying out the Trump administration's plans back in March.

Don't forget also, please, regarding things like rent payments or rental home loans, all that will, evictions, let me add that, all that will be put on hold.

There will be no evictions during this period.

Now, that sounds great, especially if what you took from it was no rent, no evictions.

But that's not actually what he's saying there.

The policy he's describing only paused evictions, not rent.

Meaning that for those unable to pay, the bills they owe have just been piling up this whole time.

Also, the policy only applied to certain properties, like those with federally backed mortgages, which account for just a quarter of all rental units.

So, as far as comprehensive plans to stem this crisis, it leaves a lot out.

Much the same way, in fact, that Larry Kudlow's wife leaves a lot out of her many paintings of her husband's clothes.

Specifically, what she leaves out is her husband.

Because, as we've mentioned before on this show, there is simply nothing that she likes to do more than paint her husband's ties over and over and over and over again in a joyous celebration of the absence of Larry Kudlow.

And quick side note here, when we first brought this up months ago, we offered anyone 10 U.S.

Dollars plus a 20,000-dollar donation to their local food bank if they were willing to sell us 1 of these genuine, Larry-less masterpieces.

And everything's been so busy, that we haven't had the chance to reveal something to you, and that is...

And let me tell you, the absence of Larry is even more striking in person.

Look, the point is, the federal moratorium on evictions left a lot of people unprotected.

And while several dozen states put in place their own moratoriums, many of those protections have already expired, leaving renters in 23 states with no state-level protection from eviction.

Meaning many tenants are forced to rely on the kindness of their landlords.

Some of whom, to their credit, have worked with their tenants and reduced the rent owed, or have stepped up in even bigger ways, like this guy.

Mario Salerno owns roughly 80 apartments in his hometown of Williamsburg.

He knows the pain so many are going through.

So he decided this month to waive rent for everyone.

For me, it was more important for people's health and worrying about who could put food on whose table.

I had tenants that said they can't work, they didn't have money to pay me.

But unfortunately, the solution clearly can't be to count on everyone being like that guy.

If for no other reason than if everyone was like that guy, we'd be forced to make a Sopranos reboot that was essentially just, oops, all Silvios.

He bulked at his brief tenure being the skipper.

Let's just let him stay where he's comfortable.

And the truth is, rather than emulating that guy, Some landlords have gone the opposite way, even trying to threaten tenants despite the protections in place.

Courtney is still in disbelief as she reads through the most recent emails from her landlord.

She says on March 31st, She told the landlord who lives in Canada that April rent would be late.

Both you and your grandmother can go online and...

That isn't just horrifying, it also effectively demolishes every Canadian stereotype I've previously held.

Because it seems there's a new type of Canadian that none of us have known about, and it's the hard-hearted bad boy who tells you and your grandma to go fuck yourselves.

Now, luckily, that woman's governor had ordered a freeze on evictions for those affected by COVID, which covered her situation.

And when that local news reporter pointed that out to her landlord, his response was pretty remarkable.

In it, he apologized for the profanity, and eventually said he's willing to waive her late fees, plus half the April rent, which he would lose anyway if he had to find a new tenant.

And they can both get on with, quote, our miserable lives.

Okay, whatever you think of that landlord's behavior, I will say this, that is just objectively the correct way to end any email in 2020.

Happy virtual graduation, now let's get on with our miserable lives.

Congrats on the new baby, Now let's get on with our miserable lives.

My deepest condolences on the loss of your grandmother.

She lived a long and miserable life, and now she'd want us to get on with ours.

And the thing is, even when landlords and property managers obeyed the moratoriums, they often made it painfully clear that tenants were gonna be evicted at the first available opportunity.

I'm, notoriously a landlord that doesn't generally let tenants get by with, any exceptions.

Even as court hearings are temporarily on hold, he's moving forward with filing evictions and attempting to collect.

It's never fun throwing, you know, throwing a single mother and their 3 kids out on the streets.

What if the 3 kids in question were baby Hitler, baby Stalin, and Donald Trump Jr.

And their single mom was Ghislaine Maxwell.

That's a pretty fun eviction right there.

That foursome could frankly use a little time on the street.

But what is happening in that example is actually really important.

Because many of those moratoriums prevent the physical act of eviction, but they don't stop the legal process that leads up to it.

Many landlords and property managers have been able to file for evictions in court this whole time, Meaning cases have just been piling and piling and piling up.

And as soon as moratoriums are lifted, which is already happening in many places, evictions could come fast.

And some landlords will tell you that the current situation simply isn't their fault, and that their tenants should have somehow prepared better.

1 property management company actually made that argument to a local Denver news crew, who then played the audio to 1 of the company's tenants, and just wait until you see his response.

I mean, I understand that Everybody's in a state of fear and panic right now.

But it's not the property owner's responsibility.

Everybody should be planning for a rainy day.

Maybe you should have saved for the rainy day.

Because why are renters consistently the only ones being told that they should have planned better?

It's important to remember, everyone is in this crisis together right now.

And this isn't just a rainy day, it's the Great Flood.

And 1 reason no 1 has an umbrella is because it's not safe to reopen the fucking umbrella factory yet.

And in the face of an extreme crisis, some tenants are understandably calling for drastic measures like rent strikes.

We are out here today to demand that the city, the state, and the federal government cancel the rents.

Every month, we're accumulating more and more and more debt.

So there's no way we're gonna be able to repay that back.

A lot of us are already choosing between food and rent.

The same way they bail out banks, they should bail out working families like mine.

We should absolutely treat families at least as well as we treat banks, who can apparently, like Wells Fargo, just reestablish themselves whenever they get in trouble.

In fact, next time your landlord asks you for your last 3 months of rent, why not tell them that they're mistaken?

That rent was owed by the previous you, the current you was reestablished on July 1st of 2020, and you're ready for a fresh start.

Ultimately, you could end up being evicted for non-payment, which remember, could make it harder to get housing in the future, and depending on your landlord's situation, they might be unable to meet property taxes that go toward funding essential city services.

So they are not without consequences, but you can see why many have been pushing for them, or indeed, for rent cancellation, because people are desperate, And strikes have been an effective way of calling attention to how dire things are right now.

And while long-term, we desperately need a plan to fix our affordable housing crisis, in the short-term, We just have to find a way to keep people in their homes.

And although some cities are trying to provide rental assistance, the limited funds at their disposal make it difficult to address the scope of the problem.

They established a 15 million dollar Rental Relief Fund, and this is what happened.

15000000 dollars gone in just 90 minutes.

Money that was dedicated to help families pay their rent during this pandemic.

We are not able to accept your application for it.

Rita and Trevor had applied for 1800 bucks in rental assistance.

They won't be getting that help though, because by the time they applied online this morning, the money was already gone.

Yeah, it's shocking to watch 15000000 dollars disappear in 90 minutes.

I mean, not quite as shocking as watching $175 million disappear in around the same time, but still, you know, shocking.

And the thing is, the city of Houston knew going in that this was gonna be an issue.

They even tweeted after the fact, we understand this is nowhere near enough to meet the need of all Houstonians.

And in fact, the city directly encouraged people to reach out to their representatives to advocate for greater funding.

Because the truth is, cities can only do so much without federal intervention.

That they have essentially the same amount of power as the servants of Downton Abbey.

Sure, they'll do what they can, but at a certain point, when things get really bad, they're gonna have to take this shit upstairs.

Now, in a much bolder move, the city of Ithaca, New York, is currently in the process of trying to cancel rent for those affected by this pandemic, and is calling on the state to provide funding for landlords who need relief.

And that is an interesting idea, although again, it requires the people upstairs, like the state, and ultimately the federal government, to act.

And unfortunately, they have dragged their feet on offering solutions for renters that remotely meet the scale of this crisis.

Back in May, to its credit, the House passed the HEROES Act, which provided $100 billion in rental assistance for the most vulnerable.

Unfortunately, since then, the bill has stalled out in the Senate, which is frankly no surprise, as multiple high-level Republicans have expressed their reticence to pass another relief package.

I think that, many people would like to just pause for a moment and take a look at the economic impact of this massive assistance program.

If the economy continues the momentum that we're beginning to see over the last couple of weeks of data that I think that 1 might conclude that the stimulus that we've already passed is enough.

We need to assess what we've already done, take a look at what worked and what didn't, and we'll discuss the way forward in the next couple of weeks.

Well, here's the thing, that was back in May.

We're now at the end of June, nothing has been passed, and rent is due on fucking Wednesday.

That said, I do know the time simply does not function the same way for Mitch McConnell as it does for everyone else.

For instance, for us, today is June 28th.

But for him, based on the way that he generally thinks, speaks, and behaves, the current date is somewhere around May 12th, 1853.

And look, the sad truth is, We've already waited too long here.

And there is absolutely no excuse for not attacking this problem with real urgency, because while we wait for Congress to act, people like this woman are having to deal with the consequences.

Kiana Ashley is being evicted, and a nightmare is unfolding for her and her five-year-old son, Nazir.

That's something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy because not knowing where you're going to rest your head at for the next day...

Everyone deserves the basic stability of shelter.

And if you are in a position where you've begun to despise the house that you've been shut inside for the past 3 and a half months, it is worth remembering, the only thing worse than knowing you're gonna spend another day stuck under the same roof is not knowing that.

And while there are clearly no perfect options here, the very worst thing that we could do right now is nothing.

Because every day we fail to act is a day that we're compounding another future crisis for millions of vulnerable renters and their communities.

We need to stop this before it gets even worse.

And in the long term, we badly need to solve our affordable housing crisis.

Because then, and only then, if I may quote, the world's rudest Canadian, can we all get on with our miserable lives?


Speaker 0: ♪♪ Moving on. Our main story tonight concerns the coronavirus. Among other things, the worst thing to happen to weddings since flash mobs. And the reason we're talking about it is that we have a huge COVID-related catastrophe that's actually just around the corner.

Speaker 1: Hundreds of tenants rallying this week, demanding rent relief. They warn the next few months could see the largest number of eviction cases ever.

Speaker 0: Yeah. As if things weren't already bad enough, in the middle of a pandemic, we may be about to see evictions on the rise. And on the list of things you hope never to see on the rise, evictions have to be right up at the top, tied of course, with Larry King's penis. That thing going up is just not what our current situation requires. And while evictions rising is shocking, it was also completely foreseeable.

Coronavirus has played havoc with employment, making it difficult for many to make rent, which was always going to have significant consequences, given that about one-third of U.S. Households are renters, and renters tend to have lower incomes than homeowners in the first place. And while stimulus checks, expanded unemployment insurance, and state and federal moratoriums on evictions undoubtedly helped hold back the tide, Those mechanisms are now starting to run out or expire. And if we do nothing, experts are predicting horrific outcomes with millions of people left vulnerable.

Speaker 2: This is the worst economic crisis the United States has seen in generations. If nothing else changes and evictions continue as normal, then this public health crisis will turn into a full-blown homelessness crisis.

Speaker 0: It's true. The coronavirus crisis could also soon turn into a full-blown homelessness crisis. And it's hard to even fathom something already so bad transforming into something else so appalling. It's like finding out that Magikarp, objectively the worst Pokemon for obvious reasons, is set to evolve into Kevin Spacey. I should've traded you for Psyduck when I had the chance.

And it says something about the utter absurdity of what's about to happen, that this is how some eviction hearings will be taking place.

Speaker 3: Starting with tomorrow's docket, Judge Lopez will start hearing eviction cases, either in the court, using webcams with the defendant and the plaintiff in separate rooms, over Zoom or even on the phone.

Speaker 0: What are you doing? You know, it might be worth thinking twice about what you're taking part in if you're throwing people out of their homes via Zoom, a platform you're only using because it's not safe for people to leave their homes. Besides, Zoom shouldn't be where you find out that you're getting evicted. It should be where you find out in a virtual happy hour which 1 of your coworkers has been secretly rich the whole time. I'm sorry, Joanna has a chandelier?

Where did she get chandelier money? Why don't I have chandelier money? Look, the fact is, we're about to go out of our way to throw people out of their homes at the worst possible time. And even in normal times, evictions are incredibly damaging with long, long-term effects. On the community level, they've been linked to heightened residential instability, substandard housing, declines in neighborhood quality, and job loss.

And on the individual level, they can be completely devastating in ways that you may not even realize, from families losing their possessions and having to start over, to significant difficulties in obtaining new housing, something that can be hard to do with an eviction on your record. Evictions have consequences that can haunt you for the rest of your life. So tonight, with rent due in just 3 days, we thought it might be a good time to talk about evictions. And let's start with the fact that the lack of affordable housing is yet another systemic problem that the coronavirus has thrown into harsh relief. Because to be clear, It was a crisis in this country long before the pandemic struck, with rents so high and renters so burdened that stories like these became a staple on local news.

Speaker 4: A chaotic scene as hundreds make a run for the door and a chance at Dallas County housing vouchers. At least 8 people suffered injuries while trying to line up this morning.

Speaker 5: Saw people running, so I started running, and I slipped and fell all over the pavement. Jordan Spivey's all scuffed up after taking quite a tumble this morning, but grateful she wasn't trampled, too.

Speaker 0: Holy shit! No 1 should ever be trampled by a crowd of people out of desperation to get rental assistance. There are only 2 times when trampling is remotely acceptable, the day after Thanksgiving, that's America's national trampling holiday, and whatever day in the future the PS5 comes out. I don't care that it looks like an alien's waffle maker or a penguin designed by Apple. It's gonna have Horizon Forbidden West as an exclusive release, and I will stomp anyone who stands between me and that game.

I want to murder dinosaur robots with flaming arrows, and I want to do it now." Now, that particular stampede was nearly a decade ago, but unfortunately, the problem has only gotten worse since then. Rents have risen significantly faster than incomes, to the point where, for renters below the poverty line, the majority are spending more than half of their income on housing, and a quarter are paying 70 percent or more, which is just not remotely sustainable. Meanwhile, around a million households have been evicted each year for over a decade, and all of this disproportionately impacts people of color, as black households, for instance, are twice as likely as white households to face eviction, and women of color, particularly black women, are especially vulnerable to it. So, things have clearly been bad for a long time, but once the pandemic hit, like everything else, they got even worse. And yet, you might have assumed that there was a freeze on rent payments if you listened to decomposing melon Larry Kudlow laying out the Trump administration's plans back in March.

Speaker 6: Don't forget also, please, regarding things like rent payments or rental home loans, all that will, evictions, let me add that, all that will be put on hold. There will be no evictions during this period.

Speaker 0: Now, that sounds great, especially if what you took from it was no rent, no evictions. But that's not actually what he's saying there. The policy he's describing only paused evictions, not rent. Meaning that for those unable to pay, the bills they owe have just been piling up this whole time. Also, the policy only applied to certain properties, like those with federally backed mortgages, which account for just a quarter of all rental units.

So, as far as comprehensive plans to stem this crisis, it leaves a lot out. Much the same way, in fact, that Larry Kudlow's wife leaves a lot out of her many paintings of her husband's clothes. Specifically, what she leaves out is her husband. Because, as we've mentioned before on this show, there is simply nothing that she likes to do more than paint her husband's ties over and over and over and over again in a joyous celebration of the absence of Larry Kudlow. And quick side note here, when we first brought this up months ago, we offered anyone 10 U.S.

Dollars plus a 20,000-dollar donation to their local food bank if they were willing to sell us 1 of these genuine, Larry-less masterpieces. And everything's been so busy, that we haven't had the chance to reveal something to you, and that is... We actually got 1. And let me tell you, the absence of Larry is even more striking in person. Look, the point is, the federal moratorium on evictions left a lot of people unprotected.

And while several dozen states put in place their own moratoriums, many of those protections have already expired, leaving renters in 23 states with no state-level protection from eviction. Meaning many tenants are forced to rely on the kindness of their landlords. Some of whom, to their credit, have worked with their tenants and reduced the rent owed, or have stepped up in even bigger ways, like this guy.

Speaker 7: Mario Salerno owns roughly 80 apartments in his hometown of Williamsburg. He knows the pain so many are going through. So he decided this month to waive rent for everyone. Everyone. 200 tenants, and he is not collecting.

Speaker 8: For me, it was more important for people's health and worrying about who could put food on whose table. I had tenants that said they can't work, they didn't have money to pay me. I just don't worry about paying me. Worry about your neighbor.

Speaker 0: That's great. That's very generous. But unfortunately, the solution clearly can't be to count on everyone being like that guy. If for no other reason than if everyone was like that guy, we'd be forced to make a Sopranos reboot that was essentially just, oops, all Silvios. And nobody wants that, not even Silvio.

He bulked at his brief tenure being the skipper. He couldn't handle the crown. Let's just let him stay where he's comfortable. And the truth is, rather than emulating that guy, Some landlords have gone the opposite way, even trying to threaten tenants despite the protections in place.

Speaker 9: Courtney is still in disbelief as she reads through the most recent emails from her landlord. She says on March 31st, She told the landlord who lives in Canada that April rent would be late. Days later... Just pay the rent or move out. The email started.

You lying... Both you and your grandmother can go online and... Yourselves.

Speaker 0: Wow. That isn't just horrifying, it also effectively demolishes every Canadian stereotype I've previously held. Because it seems there's a new type of Canadian that none of us have known about, and it's the hard-hearted bad boy who tells you and your grandma to go fuck yourselves. Now, luckily, that woman's governor had ordered a freeze on evictions for those affected by COVID, which covered her situation. And when that local news reporter pointed that out to her landlord, his response was pretty remarkable.

Speaker 9: He sent us a colorful email. In it, he apologized for the profanity, and eventually said he's willing to waive her late fees, plus half the April rent, which he would lose anyway if he had to find a new tenant. And they can both get on with, quote, our miserable lives.

Speaker 0: Okay, whatever you think of that landlord's behavior, I will say this, that is just objectively the correct way to end any email in 2020. Happy virtual graduation, now let's get on with our miserable lives. Congrats on the new baby, Now let's get on with our miserable lives. My deepest condolences on the loss of your grandmother. She lived a long and miserable life, and now she'd want us to get on with ours.

And the thing is, even when landlords and property managers obeyed the moratoriums, they often made it painfully clear that tenants were gonna be evicted at the first available opportunity.

Speaker 10: I'm, notoriously a landlord that doesn't generally let tenants get by with, any exceptions.

Speaker 4: Even as court hearings are temporarily on hold, he's moving forward with filing evictions and attempting to collect.

Speaker 10: It's never fun throwing, you know, throwing a single mother and their 3 kids out on the streets. That's not fun. But it's business.

Speaker 0: Okay, first of all, never say never. What if the 3 kids in question were baby Hitler, baby Stalin, and Donald Trump Jr. And their single mom was Ghislaine Maxwell. That's a pretty fun eviction right there. That foursome could frankly use a little time on the street.

But what is happening in that example is actually really important. Because many of those moratoriums prevent the physical act of eviction, but they don't stop the legal process that leads up to it. Many landlords and property managers have been able to file for evictions in court this whole time, Meaning cases have just been piling and piling and piling up. And as soon as moratoriums are lifted, which is already happening in many places, evictions could come fast. And some landlords will tell you that the current situation simply isn't their fault, and that their tenants should have somehow prepared better.

1 property management company actually made that argument to a local Denver news crew, who then played the audio to 1 of the company's tenants, and just wait until you see his response.

Speaker 11: I mean, I understand that Everybody's in a state of fear and panic right now. But it's not the property owner's responsibility. We have to plan for a rainy day. Everybody should be planning for a rainy day.

Speaker 8: Maybe you should have saved for the rainy day. Just saying.

Speaker 0: Yeah, That's a fair point. Because why are renters consistently the only ones being told that they should have planned better? It's important to remember, everyone is in this crisis together right now. And this isn't just a rainy day, it's the Great Flood. And 1 reason no 1 has an umbrella is because it's not safe to reopen the fucking umbrella factory yet.

And in the face of an extreme crisis, some tenants are understandably calling for drastic measures like rent strikes.

Speaker 5: We are out here today to demand that the city, the state, and the federal government cancel the rents. We need rent cancellation. Every month, we're accumulating more and more and more debt. So there's no way we're gonna be able to repay that back. A lot of us are already choosing between food and rent.

We're saying to choose food?

Speaker 3: The same way they bail out banks, they should bail out working families like mine.

Speaker 0: Yeah, of course. We should absolutely treat families at least as well as we treat banks, who can apparently, like Wells Fargo, just reestablish themselves whenever they get in trouble. In fact, next time your landlord asks you for your last 3 months of rent, why not tell them that they're mistaken? That rent was owed by the previous you, the current you was reestablished on July 1st of 2020, and you're ready for a fresh start. And look, rent strikes are a risk.

Ultimately, you could end up being evicted for non-payment, which remember, could make it harder to get housing in the future, and depending on your landlord's situation, they might be unable to meet property taxes that go toward funding essential city services. So they are not without consequences, but you can see why many have been pushing for them, or indeed, for rent cancellation, because people are desperate, And strikes have been an effective way of calling attention to how dire things are right now. And while long-term, we desperately need a plan to fix our affordable housing crisis, in the short-term, We just have to find a way to keep people in their homes. And although some cities are trying to provide rental assistance, the limited funds at their disposal make it difficult to address the scope of the problem. Take Houston.

They established a 15 million dollar Rental Relief Fund, and this is what happened.

Speaker 4: 15000000 dollars gone in just 90 minutes. Money that was dedicated to help families pay their rent during this pandemic.

Speaker 2: We are not able to accept your application for it.

Speaker 12: Rita and Trevor had applied for 1800 bucks in rental assistance. They won't be getting that help though, because by the time they applied online this morning, the money was already gone.

Speaker 13: 15000000 dollars gone within an hour. Come on now.

Speaker 0: Yeah, it's shocking to watch 15000000 dollars disappear in 90 minutes. I mean, not quite as shocking as watching $175 million disappear in around the same time, but still, you know, shocking. And the thing is, the city of Houston knew going in that this was gonna be an issue. They even tweeted after the fact, we understand this is nowhere near enough to meet the need of all Houstonians. And in fact, the city directly encouraged people to reach out to their representatives to advocate for greater funding.

Because the truth is, cities can only do so much without federal intervention. That they have essentially the same amount of power as the servants of Downton Abbey. Sure, they'll do what they can, but at a certain point, when things get really bad, they're gonna have to take this shit upstairs. Now, in a much bolder move, the city of Ithaca, New York, is currently in the process of trying to cancel rent for those affected by this pandemic, and is calling on the state to provide funding for landlords who need relief. And that is an interesting idea, although again, it requires the people upstairs, like the state, and ultimately the federal government, to act.

And unfortunately, they have dragged their feet on offering solutions for renters that remotely meet the scale of this crisis. Back in May, to its credit, the House passed the HEROES Act, which provided $100 billion in rental assistance for the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, since then, the bill has stalled out in the Senate, which is frankly no surprise, as multiple high-level Republicans have expressed their reticence to pass another relief package.

Speaker 6: I think that, many people would like to just pause for a moment and take a look at the economic impact of this massive assistance program.

Speaker 14: If the economy continues the momentum that we're beginning to see over the last couple of weeks of data that I think that 1 might conclude that the stimulus that we've already passed is enough.

Speaker 15: We need to assess what we've already done, take a look at what worked and what didn't, and we'll discuss the way forward in the next couple of weeks.

Speaker 0: Oh, in a couple of weeks? Really? Well, here's the thing, that was back in May. We're now at the end of June, nothing has been passed, and rent is due on fucking Wednesday. That said, I do know the time simply does not function the same way for Mitch McConnell as it does for everyone else.

For instance, for us, today is June 28th. But for him, based on the way that he generally thinks, speaks, and behaves, the current date is somewhere around May 12th, 1853. And look, the sad truth is, We've already waited too long here. And there is absolutely no excuse for not attacking this problem with real urgency, because while we wait for Congress to act, people like this woman are having to deal with the consequences.

Speaker 9: Kiana Ashley is being evicted, and a nightmare is unfolding for her and her five-year-old son, Nazir.

Speaker 13: That's something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy because not knowing where you're going to rest your head at for the next day... That's not good.

Speaker 0: Yeah, of course it's not good. Everyone deserves the basic stability of shelter. And if you are in a position where you've begun to despise the house that you've been shut inside for the past 3 and a half months, it is worth remembering, the only thing worse than knowing you're gonna spend another day stuck under the same roof is not knowing that. And while there are clearly no perfect options here, the very worst thing that we could do right now is nothing. Because every day we fail to act is a day that we're compounding another future crisis for millions of vulnerable renters and their communities.

We need to stop this before it gets even worse. And in the long term, we badly need to solve our affordable housing crisis. Because then, and only then, if I may quote, the world's rudest Canadian, can we all get on with our miserable lives?

See all LastWeekTonight transcripts on Youtube

Coronavirus IX: Evictions: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)