You know politicians are hearing from their constituents a lot these days on issues related to the local and national response to COVID-19.  We are starting to hear about some interesting bills being proposed at the national level. This one definitely caught my eye. Almost like I couldn't believe what I just read.

There is a new bill being introduced by Rep. IIhan Omar (D-MN) that seeks to cancel rent and home mortgage payments for the remainder of the pandemic. What? Yes, Representative Omar says that retroactive to March 13th, 2020, you should not be making a rent or mortgage payment until this mess is over. Like I said, almost impossible to believe. Well, at this point, it is still just a bill. Take a look at the fine print.

As I understand it, the bill seeks the forgiveness of all rent and home mortgage payments regardless of how much money you make. No payments for anyone. This bill would also keep the landlords and mortgage bankers covered by creating a relief fund that will take care of the canceled rent payments. A bailout for landlords? Maybe.

This bill was introduced on Friday of last week. If this actually makes it through it would forgive these payments for one year. I assume that means March of 2021 based on the language of the bill in the link above. What do you think? Millions of people have had to file for unemployment during the COVID-19 outbreak so far, many more are still waiting to file. This does seem to be something that could be a big help to families who are really feeling the crunch right now. And that would be most of us.

Omar issued a statement last week. KHOU shared some of his thoughts about the bill that included, "Congress has a responsibility to step in to stabilize both local communities and the housing market during this time of uncertainty and crisis. In 2008, we bailed out Wall Street. This time, it’s time to bail out the American people who are suffering."

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