We have looked into the effects of COVID-19 and how it affected Texas’ unemployment in the “Abused Unemployment Benefits in Texas” article and the rising cost of living in the “Now Texas Feels the Inflation” article. So let’s look at the effects based on groups.
As mentioned in “Abused Unemployment Benefits in Texas,” public assistance has been offered by both state and federal government to help Texans. An example of this is the assistance received to help tenants keep their residence. This was necessary for some circumstances for a while, but there were also the landlords that felt the impact of the assistance.
There is a website that is specifically set up for the landlord and the tenant to get assistance for the rent payments during COVID-19. On the Texas Rent Relief Website, there is an application for both the landlord and the tenant to complete to get assistance now and in future obligations. However, from there it has to be noted that the tenant will not be evicted if the rent is not paid, but the landlord is still required to pay for any utilities, damages, repairs, taxes, etc.
The rent that is not paid is still owed, and the landlord can charge fees, penalties, and interest on the rent not paid on time according to the CDC order. They can also file an eviction for resolution of the non-paying tenant, but it will go before a judge to review all the citations.
The Texas COVID-19 Housing Resources and Information will assist both the tenant and the landlord. However, when it is looked into more closely, it is seen that it is more beneficial to the tenant. Yes, the landlord can continue to run up a statement showing all the unpaid rent and any interest, fees, etc. However, any property damages that the tenant makes, the landlord has to fix. Eviction notice expenses, taxes, etc. are not covered and the landlord still has to pay for them.
This shows that the lower the income is of the renting resident, the better off the resident is now financially since COVID-19.
This causes more issues to be discussed later.