For months, Emmanuel Ofori-Attah had felt the financial pressure of the pandemic.
The 31-year-old worked full-time in marketing and branding before COVID-19 hit last year, but because his job relied heavily on events, his income dried up when those these have ceased. And the majority of his monthly federal emergency benefit payments were absorbed by rental charges – $ 1,700 out of $ 2,000.
“When you’re a young, healthy, able-bodied person, when the ability to work is taken away from you, it’s very stressful,” he says. “You feel helpless… that’s the only thing you worry about. ”
It was then that he saw a poster in the lobby of his apartment, advertising a city-funded program offering interest-free loans to tenants in a pinch. He called the number listed and about a week later, $ 2,600 went straight to his landlord – just over a month and a half’s rent.
Ofori-Attah is one of nearly 1,000 households that benefited from the city-funded “Rent Bank” program last year after the COVID-19 hit. While advocates and clients praised the program for offering quick help under difficult circumstances, those who spoke to the Star noted that the loans were only a temporary fix – and in a clear endless pandemic. in view, they require more depth and longer. term measures.
More Torontonians flocked to the rent bank during the pandemic than before, the number of households that provided loans between March and December increased 37% from 2019 to 2020. While $ 1.8 million was loaned out for rent, arrears and deposits during this period city data shows that $ 3.1 million in loans were made between March and December of last year.
The program is run by the nonprofit Neighborhood Information Service with funding from the city; it is only accessible to households that pay market rent, who are considered low income but do not receive social assistance.
Some kind of spike during COVID-19 was expected. The city topped the rent bank coffers with an additional $ 2 million last spring; increased the maximum loan amount for up to three months from $ 3,500 to $ 4,000; deferred repayments up to one year; and abolished a rule on the need for a stable income for the future.
Ofori-Attah said the need for the loan was a “gut-check” for him, to put more money aside in an emergency. He said the sharp increase in usage last year shows how many Toronto residents are living without a financial safety net.
“Over the past couple of years we’ve been talking about how household personal debt is growing, and I think the time has come to recognize that and make some fundamental changes,” he said.
He urged officials to look for ways to lower the cost of things like child care. “It’s not the kind of situation where you can say, ‘Just get up by your boots, know your lunch’.”
The city will be evaluating the rent bank program this year, including looking at whether it could offer grants instead of loans. A city report released in November indicated that eliminating repayments for outstanding loans alone would mean forfeiting nearly $ 6 million. The city currently faces a budget deficit of almost $ 1 billion for 2021.
Bahar Shadpour, spokesperson for the Advocacy Center for Tenants Ontario, believes a subsidy option could help tenants facing financial pressures. But she fears the rent bank will help those who may have had large arrears or serious debts. Although arrears can appear during eviction processes, the amount of debt is more difficult to see, she said.
His organization and the Federation of Rental Housing Providers of Ontario lobbied for a residential rent relief program for the province.
L. Wysocki, who requested that his first name be omitted for confidentiality reasons while discussing his past financial woes, also turned to the rent bank in 2020.
As a restaurant waiter, his job also ended when the pandemic began, but the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit was enough to cover his rent of $ 1,080. He returned to work in June, but as cases climbed in the fall, his work faded.
He emptied his bank account, then used a line of credit. “I used pretty much everything I had to pay the rent,” Wysocki said.
Finally, he turned to the rent bank, which he said he used many years ago, when he was injured and needed help with a month’s rent.
Loading…
Loading…Loading…Loading…Loading…Loading…
–
In about 10 days, three months of rent has passed to its landlord, he said. He is grateful for the program and how quickly it helped him, but like Shadpour, he fears that the loans are only a temporary fix in a pandemic with no set end date, during which tenants may continue to have difficulty with payments.
Wysocki’s loan covers payments until the end of February. From there, he is the only one to cover the monthly cost again.
“It will only be a stopgap,” he says.
