Over 100,000 renter families in New Mexico already paid more than they could afford for housing before the pandemic. With massive job losses and reductions in income, more families than ever are on the edge of being houseless.

Even with the federal bailouts, many will wait months for benefits, and too many families--immigrants, part-time workers, people with reduced hours, those with no federal tax liabilities, and students--will not receive any assistance at all.  

Eviction moratoriums and rent freezes help, but mean many renters will just come out the other end of this with months of unpaid housing bills and pending evictions. 

And if we don't provide immediate assistance for people who can't or won't get assistance from other sources, the economic fallout from this crisis will spread and grow beyond its current unprecedented magnitude. This will inevitably impact the most economically vulnerable New Mexican families the most. 

We need swift action from state and local governments to create emergency rental assistance funds that serve every New Mexican renter impacted by this crisis. We urge you to act quickly, we can't afford to wait another month.