I know multiple people who just didn't pay rent last year. They didn't need to and decided they weren't going to. They took trips to Vegas, bought GME, etc, etc.
I also know landlords who haven't been paid in 18 months. They don't even want rent, they just want them to leave.
Based on what I've seen, I strongly suspect there are people who legitimately couldn't pay. I'm also confident many (perhaps a majority) chose not to pay. The landlords I know aren't trying to recoup their losses (one landlord I know has ~100 families living on his properties and 1/4 haven't been paying him and it's nearly bankrupted his operation).
This is a very complicated situation, but from what I've seen the government should have stayed out of it. The checks could have covered peoples rent to a degree, landlords were / are pretty understanding in many cases, unemployment should have been more than enough... If not, unfortunately, that's life.
Now, we have these sob stories and the cascading issues to landlords. We also have a mass movement all at once, WITHOUT them having unemployment or much support, etc.
I also know landlords who haven't been paid in 18 months. They don't even want rent, they just want them to leave.
Based on what I've seen, I strongly suspect there are people who legitimately couldn't pay. I'm also confident many (perhaps a majority) chose not to pay. The landlords I know aren't trying to recoup their losses (one landlord I know has ~100 families living on his properties and 1/4 haven't been paying him and it's nearly bankrupted his operation).
This is a very complicated situation, but from what I've seen the government should have stayed out of it. The checks could have covered peoples rent to a degree, landlords were / are pretty understanding in many cases, unemployment should have been more than enough... If not, unfortunately, that's life.
Now, we have these sob stories and the cascading issues to landlords. We also have a mass movement all at once, WITHOUT them having unemployment or much support, etc.