More Renters and Homeowners Missed Payments in May Than April -- Now 31%

More Renters and Homeowners Missed Payments in May Than April -- Now 31%

More and more Americans are withholding their rent and mortgage payments according to new research.

“Nearly 1 in 4 Americans were not able or decided not to pay their housing bill in the first week of April, as COVID-19 upended much of our economy and imposed financial strain on millions of Americans. In the weeks since, millions more workers have filed for unemployment benefits, stoking a fierce debate around when it will be appropriate to “reopen the economy.” Amid this backdrop of continued economic instability and fears of worsening housing affordability, the pandemic’s second round of housing payments came due on May 1st,” according to Apartment List.

In April, nearly one-quarter of housing bills were not fully paid during the first week of the month. In May the situation worsened, as 31 percent of Americans made just a partial payment or no payment at all.

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The majority of missed payments in early April were eventually made up over the course of the month. But for these people who needed the extra time to pay for April housing, May's non-payment rates are extremely high.

"Despite a significant wealth gap, renters and homeowners share similar results: 22 percent of each group made no housing payment in early May. Those who can work remotely have had an easier time affording housing, with a May delinquency rate 10 percentage points lower than those who can’t perform all of their job duties at home," writes Apartment List.

Millions of Americans have received federal stimulus checks as part of the CARES Act, but those who received a stimulus payment were only slightly less likely to have missed their housing payment.

Despite May’s affordability struggles, strong eviction and foreclosure protections and the gradual reopening of the economy are leaving Americans more confident about future housing security than they were last month.