Rep. Ilhan Omar is bringing back her “Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act” from 2020’s Grooveyard of Forgotten Hits. She reintroduced the bill with more than 20 sponsors, which included the usual suspects, like leftist reps Ayanna Pressley, Pramila Jayapal, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Under this bill, rent and mortgage payments would be cancelled until April, 2022. What’s more, debt would not accumulate, and credit ratings would not go south. It’s all because of the pandemic, she said.

“To avoid an even larger crisis, we must cancel rent and mortgage payments during this pandemic. This isn’t a radical idea. It’s what is needed to prevent an even bigger crisis.”

But hold on — aren’t Covid cases dropping rapidly? And aren’t people going back to work? So why now?

According to Pramila Jayapal, it’s because housing is a “human right.”

“We must cancel rent and mortgage payments during this crisis because housing is a human right — during a pandemic and always.”

No, no it’s not. The “right to housing” is nowhere in the Constitution, in fact. But it sounds warm and fuzzy to their constituents, so the socialists know it’ll get them votes.

So who’s going to pay for this monstrosity, especially after the $1.9 trillion dollar relief bill passed the Senate last week? I have no clue. But here’s a link to the bill, so let me know if you find where Ilhan Omar names the source of the funding.

What’s more, the bill doesn’t say how the end of the pandemic will be determined, and by whom. Maybe Dr. Fauci? The Pandemic Porn governors of blue states? Or perhaps the Coronabros in the Biden administration.

But you know that ignoramuses who have no idea how rent works think this is the Best Idea Ever.

https://twitter.com/HorsesAndDucks/status/1370071220914417679?s=20

They probably think that landlords are all wealthy fat cats who drive luxury vehicles, live in mansions, and suck the lifeblood out of poor beleaguered renters every month.

Oh, and they’re white, too.

Giphy.com.

The truth is, landlords often operate on a thin margin — as low as 9 cents on the dollar. They’re certainly not the rich Mr. Moneybags character from the Monopoly game. As one landlord from New York City, whose family rents small retail space, said:

“That caricature of the white landlord in the suit who has suitcases of money—in our case, every one of us has a day job.”

In reality, residential landlords are responsible for balancing a lot of money. They may have mortgages on their rental property that they have to pay. And even if they own their properties free and clear, they still have to pay for property taxes, insurance, and repairs. If they hire someone to do maintenance, they pay that person a salary. Plus, they might have property managers who take a percentage of the rents, as well as an accountant who manages their books. Sometimes a landlord might need legal help, too, and you know that attorneys don’t come cheap.

So who will help property owners with all these financial responsibilities if rent is cancelled?

Never fear, Ilhan Omar has an answer for that, too. She says — *drum roll please* — the government will bail them out.  

Well, maybe. In Section 5 of her bill is the “Landlord Relief Fund,” which will be maintained by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. But don’t think that Uncle Sam will just be handing out the Benjamins to landlords. No, first they have to apply, and must also meet “requirements.” These include freezing rent, requiring them to rent to people even with sketchy incomes, and forbidding them to report deadbeats to debt collectors or credit agencies.

They must also provide to anyone interested in their properties the following information: