O
n the last Fri-
day of August,
Craig
Te-
schendorf passed the day
wondering where he and
his puppy Eleanor would
go after his eviction from
the
Orion
MainStreet
apartment complex in
Ann Arbor. In a touching
act of unity and protest,
about 20 members from
the area showed up to
successfully postpone the
eviction of the elderly dis-
abled retiree. Photos from
the event show a diverse,
masked community suc-
cessfully coming together
to protect a vulnerable
citizen of their city amid a
pandemic.
The protest was able to
keep Craig off the streets
until the end of Septem-
ber, when staff from the apartment complex
and Ann Arbor police showed up to carry out
the eviction. In an email, the Ann Arbor Ten-
ants Union wrote that he is still looking for
housing for him and Eleanor. Though Craig is
becoming the face of the anti-eviction move-
ment in the Ann Arbor area, evictions are still
taking place across the nation no matter the
coronavirus case count or the perils of wild-
fires, hurricanes and other aggressive weath-
er. While the United States housing crisis did
not start with the pandemic — in fact, it has
been a decades-long problem — the circum-
stances of the pandemic have certainly exac-
erbated this growing issue.
The economic toll of the COVID-19 pan-
demic has left millions both temporarily and
permanently unemployed across the U.S. The
national unemployment rate skyrocketed to
over 14% in the beginning of summer and is
currently projected to dip below 8%. Adding
to the problem, the number of permanent job
losses is increasing, creating a negative out-
look on the job market as the U.S. continues to
stagger through the economic consequences
of the pandemic, left uncontrolled by an ad-
ministration incapable of acknowledging and
addressing the worst public health crisis in
over 100 years. Irrespective of the abysmal
public health policy of the 45th president, the
Trump administration’s culture of downplay-
ing the severity of the virus to the American
public and refusal to follow Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention guidelines are
enough to impose blame for the state of the
nation.
All of this economic turmoil has resulted
in an estimated 30 to 40 million Americans
facing the threat of eviction, mounting debt,
late fees and interest due to back rent and the
legal consequences of unpaid rent, such as a
wage garnishment if landlords sue to evict a
tenant. In September, an unprecedented, na-
tionwide eviction moratorium was declared
by the CDC to protect renters and prevent the
spread of COVID-19, but the effectiveness of
this action is unknown as evictions continue
to take place across the country, even in Ann
Arbor, and landlords challenge the legality of
the moratorium itself.
Needless to say, the housing crisis is not
exclusive to Ann Arbor, which is already one
of the most economically segregated cities in
the nation. Though over half of University of
Michigan students come from the top 20%
of American households and have differing
levels of concern and parental support when
it comes to paying rent, many students strug-
gle to cover the cost of housing even without
a pandemic and its crippling effects on the
economy. While the fact that 78% of under-
graduate credits are now offered virtually
makes the need for housing in Ann Arbor less
pressing, the obligations of student renters
have remained intact for the most part. From
all over the country and around the world,
students flocked back to Ann Arbor in August
to fulfill already-signed leases.
With the fall semester underway, the issue
of housing for the academic year may have
faded in the list of students’ most pressing
concerns. I spoke to Gayle Rosen, a landlord
and tenant attorney for Student Legal Servic-
es, to learn more about student housing con-
cerns amid the pandemic. She said that “(SLS)
received hundreds of calls in the spring when
U-M decided to move to online learning. Stu-
dents headed home and said they wanted to
break their lease because they no longer need-
ed to stay in Ann Arbor in order to complete
their schoolwork, or because they lost their
jobs and could not afford their apartment. We
have also heard from students who needed to
return home to help care for a family member
as a result of the pandemic.”
After the University declared its plans for
a “public-health informed” semester, “SLS re-
ceived a lot of calls from students who wanted
to terminate their leases for 2020-2021 be-
cause they decided not to come back (to cam-
pus),” Rosen said.
Rosen acknowledged that for students, the
problem is that there is not a strong legal basis
to terminate their leases, even during a pan-
demic. Because leases do not often contain
provisions that allow for an early termina-
tion due to an emergency, rent is still due and
leases are still binding for many students, no
matter how dire the circumstances.
Needless to say, the housing crisis is just
another straw on the camel’s back for many
students juggling the typical stressors of col-
lege life that have intensified during the pan-
demic. To all the Ann Arbor landlords I spoke
to over the phone, the public health and eco-
nomic crises are not enough to convince them
that desperate times call for desperate mea-
sures, such as cutting rent or allowing rent-
ers to terminate their leases under once-in-a-
century circumstances. Amid the crisis, there
have been heartwarming stories of landlords
showing great empathy to renters, but these
few instances are the exception, not the rule.
According to an employee at Z West Apart-
ments who spoke to me on the condition of
anonymity, students can break their leases
after paying six monthly installments. Google
Reviews from May 2020 claim that McKin-
ley Properties offered a 5% percent rent cut,
which after its annual rent increase, did not
seem very meaningful to tenants. In addition,
I talked to a number of landlords who worked
to waive subleasing or late fees for a period of
time.
As described to me by many landlords over
the phone, their policies did not change due
to the pandemic because their tenants have
not had trouble paying rent, and did not ex-
press the need for rent concessions — so, there
seems to be no reason to cut rent. If this is the
case, the income of landlords, based in legally-
binding leases, should be relatively stable. Yet
several landlords have applied for financial
support made possible by the Paycheck Pro-
tection Program.
Data from the U.S. Small Business Admin-
istration shows many landlords in Ann Arbor,
in response to the pandemic, received low in-
terest, federally backed loans that may be for-
given under certain circumstances. According
to a data project from ProPublica, McKinley
Companies received between $5 and 10 mil-
lion, Cabrio Capital and Cabrio TNM Hold-
ings received between $150,000 and $350,000
each, Wickfield Properties between $350,000
and $1 million, Wilson White Company be-
tween $150,000 and $350,000 and Landmark
Properties, the nation’s top developer of stu-
dent housing that has stakes in Z West, Z
Place and Foundry Lofts, received between $5
and 10 million.
If tenants are not having trouble paying
rent, as high-rise complexes and landlords
with houses across Ann Arbor told me over
the phone, why do these enormous compa-
nies need coronavirus bailout money? Where
exactly is it going? And who exactly is benefit-
ting?
I
n an email, Lisa Disch, a professor in
the Department of Political Science
and Women’s Studies, and member of
the Ann Arbor City Coun-
cil, wrote of the painful
truth of the housing crisis
during COVID-19.
“The pandemic defi-
nitely helped make many
more people aware of this
crisis but it did not cause
it,” Disch said.
Citing a 2015 study of
American metros, Disch
continued.
“Ann Arbor has nev-
er been an inexpensive
place to live but it is no
exaggeration to say that
we are currently facing a
housing crisis,” she wrote.
“Not only is Ann Arbor
the eighth most economi-
cally segregated city in
the nation — not Michi-
gan but the nation — but
we are second in the na-
tion for excluding ‘essen-
tial workers’ from living alongside the people
who depend on them.”
The University’s role in the Ann Arbor
housing market is worth noting: “Over the last
15 years, UM enrollment has grown by 8,557
students, up 22%, while just under 6,000 beds
have been added between new apartments
and dorms in the downtown/campus area.”
Where does the University expect these ad-
ditional nearly 2,500 students to live? What
does the University expect to happen to the
cost of housing when students must compete
with a growing Ann Arbor population for a
place to live, and they do not guarantee on-
campus housing?
Disch commented on the recent growth
of the student population.
“I do think that the growth of enrollment
and employment at the U (the problem is
not just adding more students but adding
more jobs generally) have contributed to
the housing crisis but it is important not to
lose sight of these long-term trends. We’ve
been coasting along with an outdated vision
of the city that has accelerated inequities
and reduced racial and economic diversity,”
she wrote.
The impacts of redlining and racial dis-
crimination are twisted into the economic
inequality seen throughout the country and
become even more apparent during these
crises. The disparities that make home own-
ership more difficult for Black and Hispanic
households compared to white people and
eviction rates that put minorities at a larger
risk of ending up on the streets are insepa-
rable from health and wealth inequalities
that are exacerbated by the pandemic. Ac-
cording to the CDC, “long-standing sys-
temic health and social inequities have put
many people from racial and ethnic minor-
ity groups at increased risk of getting sick
and dying from COVID-19.” Understanding
the reciprocal relationships between own-
ing or having a stable place to call home,
maintaining health and building wealth is
key to understanding the disproportionate
impact of the pandemic and the housing cri-
sis on minority communities.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
14 — Wednesday, October 14, 2020
statement
Ann Arbor: Not
immune to the
COVID-19
housing crisis
BY LEAH LESZCZYNSKI, STATEMENT COLUMNIST
ILLUSTRATIONS BY EILEEN KELLY
ILLUSTRATION BY MAGGIE WIEBE
ILLUSTRATION BY MAGGIE WIEBE
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com