
32% of U.S. households missed their July housing payments - claudeganon
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/08/32-percent-of-us-households-missed-their-july-housing-payments.html
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nkurz
The report for the underlying survey (which the CNBC article was kind enough
to link) is very readable and contains additional useful information:
[https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/july-housing-
payments](https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/july-housing-payments)

The spin in the CNBC article about late payment seems misleading, or at least,
not supported by the survey:

CNBC: "Almost 90% of households had paid some or all of their rent or mortgage
payment by the end of June. But with late fees tacked on, those households may
be more likely to miss their next housing bill, perpetuating a vicious cycle."

Apartment List: "It continues to be the case that the majority of payments
missed in the first week of the month are made up with late payments. 89
percent of respondents reported that they had paid their June bill in full as
of the first week of July. This is consistent with the end-of-month payment
rate for prior months."

Highlighting the differences, CNBC says respondents "paid some or all", while
the actual survey claims that 89% of the overdue bills were paid "in full".
CNBC points out that theoretically the added fees may create a vicious cycle,
while Apartment List says that there is as yet no evidence of this.

One useful datapoint that I didn't see mentioned in either article is the
"base rate" for other years. What are the typical numbers for July in the
years when there isn't a global pandemic? Does anyone have a source for this?

~~~
listenallyall
>> 89 percent of respondents reported that they had paid their June bill in
full

I'd posit that a survey of payers likely understates delinquency rates. For
one thing, it's a bit embarrassing to admit to a stranger that you cannot make
your payments. Further, in today's surveillance state, why would anyone trust
that the person asking a question is simply doing a survey? Many people might
think the inquiry is coming from their landlord, bank, or some government
agency (like INS) or secret police -- in which case they might not voluntarily
admit that they are behind on their obligations.

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ve55
Although this appears very alarming, it's also worth noting that due to covid
it's allowed for them to defer payments for a bit, and that is included in
this statistic.

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ahnick
So the payments get deferred, but if families aren't earning any money (e.g.
lost job or furloughed) for these missed months, how will they catch back up?
Where does the extra money come from?

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boring_twenties
At least with a mortgage, couldn't it be reasonable to extend the entire
payment schedule by 1/2/3 months?

~~~
ahnick
Yeah, that's my thinking as well. Maybe congress will pass a nationwide
extension on home mortgages for some determined duration of the pandemic? Rent
is less clear. Maybe something similar for the landlords and in return there
is a moratorium on evictions?

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tlack
Does anyone have similar data for missed commercial lease or mortgage
payments?

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dutch3000
one for misleading article title

