As an owner, landlord, or property manager of one or more rental units in Bloomington-Normal, I am opposed to a moratorium on all evictions during the Coronavirus pandemic. We are willing to work with renters who have difficulty paying rent due to the virus. We believe that we and publicly elected judges already have the ability to work with the community and prevent evictions in these circumstances as long as renters work with us in return. However, a blanket ban on all evictions will not allow us to remove renters who do not pay rent, engage in illegal activities, or are otherwise disruptive to the community for reasons unrelated to the pandemic, causing us financial and business hardship.

If we cannot pay our bills because unaffected people are not paying rent, this will affect our ability to pay taxes and mortgages and could potentially increase bankruptcy rates and further hurt the local economy.