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