Nearly half of LGBT renters behind on rent fear eviction in next two months: research

About half of LGBT U.S. renters who are behind on their payments fear eviction in the next two months, according to research released by the University of California-Los Angeles’s Williams Institute.

The Williams Institute compiled a brief examining housing stability during the coronavirus pandemic using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Pulse Survey. The research found that 19 percent of LGBT respondents said that they are behind on rent. Of those, 47 percent said that they fear eviction in the next two months. 

The findings from the survey come after the Supreme Court last week blocked an eviction freeze put in place by the Biden administration to shield financially vulnerable Americans during the pandemic. 

The moratorium had been put in place by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under former President Trump last September and was extended several times amid an unpredictable economy and a pandemic-causing virus that has mutated several times. 

Williams Institute researchers also found that 41 percent of LGBT respondents rent their homes, compared to 25 percent of their straight, cisgender counterparts. About 39 percent of LGBT people owned a house with a mortgage or a loan, compared to almost 48 percent of non-LGBT people. 

In addition, more LGBT people of color — 47 percent — rent their homes, compared to 37 percent of white LGBT respondents. 

Fifty-one percent of LGBT people of color said that they feared eviction in the next two months, compared to 38 percent of white LGBT people, 47 percent of non-LGBT people of color and 46 percent of white, non-LGBT people. 

The Williams Institute’s brief concluded that a “key component” of a person’s housing stability is whether they own or rent. 

“While owning a home comes with financial risks and challenges, renters are often low-wage workers concentrated in industries likely to be impacted by declining economic activity, are paying increasingly larger shares of their income for housing, are competing over a decreasing stock of affordable units, and must regularly re-secure housing as their leasing contracts expire,” the research stated.

LGBT people and specifically those of color are more likely to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A study released by the Williams Institute in February found that LGBT people of color were two times more likely to contract COVID-19 compared to their straight, white counterparts. 

The CDC has also found that members of the LGBT community were more at risk for contracting the disease and experiencing severe symptoms due to the prevalence of underlying health conditions in the community.