They refused to pay rent and stole the fridge. Landlords deal with pandemic squatters
Some landlords got hurt by squatters who took advantage of eviction bans during the pandemic. Now they can't get any help from a massive $47 billion federal rental assistance program.
Just before the pandemic, Nitin Bajaj and his wife Nimisha Lotia rented an apartment they own in Los Angeles to two young women.
"They were really nice to talk to," Lotia says.
But as soon as the pandemic hit, the new renters, both in their late 20s, stopped paying the rent. Lotia says the young women sent them an email saying that COVID-19 had created a financial hardship and that the city had just imposed an eviction ban â so the renters couldn't be evicted.
"No further explanation," she says. "No calls or nothing, just an email, and I think a snapshot of what the city rule was."
