Dear Editor,
GUYANESE renters and homeowner landlords in America have been severely affected financially by COVID-19. The COVID-19 rent moratorium has emboldened renters or tenants of all ethnicities not to pay rents. A significant number of Guyanese are affected. Some of those rent defaulters are Guyanese although the rate of Guyanese defaulters is lower than those among other ethnic communities. The default in Queens and Bronx-based Guyanese is lower than Brooklyn-based Guyanese. Many Guyanese homeowners are struggling to make ends meet and pay the mortgage while tenants who lost jobs can’t afford to pay rent; some who have been re-hired have not been paying or are behind in rent. Guyanese homeowners could lose their homes when COVID-19 is brought under control and normality returns. The situation is reminiscent of what happened in 2008/09 when there was a real estate meltdown in value with home price collapse and homeowners lost value in their home of over $100K per property. Foreclosure was widespread impacting on Guyanese also.

Tens of thousands of Guyanese are homeowners in Queens, Bronx, and Brooklyn. One of three to four Guyanese families in Queens and virtually all of them in Long Island is a homeowner; the home ownership rate is lower in Brooklyn and Bronx, but higher in various parts of Queens, Long Island, upstate New York, Staten Island, New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Minnesota, Boston, and other parts of America.  An estimated 100K Guyanese are homeowners in the US, among the highest homeownership rate of all ethnic groups except Indians and Asians. For census purpose, Indo-Guyanese are categorised as Indian-Americans while Afro-Guyanese are grouped under African Americans. Based on my impromptu conversations and interviews with many of them in NY, one in three Guyanese homeowners is owed rent of between $1,500 and $3,500 monthly going back to April 2020. Therefore, the amount of money Guyanese landlords are owed is enormous – between $24K to $48K for every third homeowner for the last 16 months. The total is tens of millions of American dollars owed to Guyanese-American landlords.

Millions of renters and landlords, among them tens of thousands Guyanese Americans including undocumented, lost their jobs since last year April. Renters were (have been) unable to pay rents and landlords their mortgage. The government issued moratoriums on rental and mortgage payments at the start of the pandemic last year April that expired last March and was renewed till end of September. Landlords challenged the moratorium in court and won including at the final appeal at the Supreme Court. Landlords are owed an estimated US$40B. The government allocated some $45B last year and earlier this year to help renters. But only some $5.5B was actually distributed to or claimed by renters. Several billions more have been included in a new budget for renters.

Many Guyanese homeowners I interviewed in Queens and the border of Brooklyn and Bronx say one in two tenants are behind in rent. Some are owed rents since last year April – up to 16 months. The money is available from government to pay landlords but it is not getting to them. Renters have to file an application and sign it with the money going directly to the landlord. Several renters, for varied reasons, are unwilling to file the application. Some renters are illegal and don’t want to create a file with the government applying for public assistance although undocumented is eligible for rental and food assistance. Some renters in default simply don’t care because landlords can’t proceed to evict them until after September. And they know the process will take a minimum six months to evict them. So they will get another six months of free rent. Even if evicted and ordered to pay back rent, there is virtually no way to enforce court rulings. Some landlords rent illegal apartments like basements, attics, rooms, and large apartments that have been divided up into multiple apartments or sub-units. Guyanese engage in these actions to increase rental income to meet mortgage payments that could be up to US$4,000 monthly. Many renters of illegal apartments have refused to pay or move; landlords are helpless and suffer huge losses. Countless Guyanese told me they were owed rent for both legal and illegal apartments or rooms. Courts don’t enforce back rents on illegal apartments. Renters tend to know the rules and avoid paying rents. Landlords of illegal apartments or rooms are helpless in evicting tenants, many of who tend to live for free for six to 12 months before being evicted.
Many Guyanese landlords are in jeopardy of losing their home when the situation normalises. And some said they would shun the rental business. This could impact on availability of rental apartments. Already, many Guyanese are saying that after they get their default tenants out, they will not rent. Meanwhile, pressure is on renters to apply for government assistance to pay landlords.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram