They say fewer of their renters are paying rent and they too, the landlords, have bills to pay.

他們表示，越來越少租客繳交房租，而他們自己也有帳單要繳。

As the coronavirus crisis enters its third month in the U.S., more and more tenants are protesting paying their rent.

而在美國疫情進入第三個月後，也有越來越多房客抗議不想繳房租。

Cancel rent now!

取消房租！

May, we are not going to pay!

我們不會付五月的房租！

While many people pay rent to large corporations, around half of Americans who rent, rent from individual landlords.

有許多的租金都是付給大公司，但也有將近一半的美國人是和獨立房東租的。

There are about eight million owners in this category, most of whom have between one and ten properties.

這類型的房東大約有 800 萬名，各自擁有一至十棟的建築。

Thank you for figuring out how to do your Skype.

謝謝妳花時間搞懂如何使用 Skype。

Yeah, my son was helping me.

我兒子有幫我。

Oh, that's nice.

噢，真不錯。

Fadela Hussein says her rental income is her only income.

Fedela Hussein 說房客的租金收入，是她唯一的收入來源。

Her homes are in Schenectady, New York, a riverside city of around 60,000 that's three hours north of Manhattan.

她的房產在紐約的 Schenectady 城，那是一座人口約 6 萬人的河邊城市，距曼哈頓約 3 小時往北的車程。

Her single-family homes run for, on average, 1,200 USD per month.

她都是那種租給一個家庭的小房子，平均一個月的房租為 1,200 美金。

I started in 2010.

我是從 2010 年開始做房東的。

I used up my savings to invest in, you know, one property, buy it and fix it and rent it.

我花光所有的積蓄投資一個房產，買下它，然後翻修租出去。

It, eventually, over the years, I accumulated a few more.

而在這幾年間，也繼續投資，累積了一些房產。

More than a few, you're up to 14 right now, right?

不只一些吧，你有 14 棟房產，沒錯吧？

Right.

沒錯。

Hussein, who's 61 years old and a widow, says she has so many tenants not paying their rent right now that she can't pay all her mortgages.

Hussein 是名 61 歲的寡婦，她說現在有許多房客都不付租金，讓她自己的房屋貸款也繳不出來。

They're just not paying.

他們就是不付。

She says these four homes are vacant and need repairs, which now she can't afford.

她說這四棟房子目前為空房，需要維修，但她負擔不起。

Hussein was in the process, she says, of trying to evict the tenants of two homes, when New York declared a 90-day moratorium on evictions.

在紐約宣布延後 90 天的驅逐令時，Hussein 正試著要驅逐她其中兩間房產的房客。

They, and three other tenants, she says have yet to pay their April rent.

她說，這些人與其他三名租客都還沒付四月租金。

Did people lose their jobs, is that the issue?

是因為他們失業了嗎？

Well, they haven't responded to my letter asking them for proof if they are affected or if they are unemployed because of the COVID-19.

這個嘛，他們都沒有回覆我的信件，在信件中，我詢問他們是否有因疫情而受到影響或失業的證明。

And when I call, I'm not getting any response either.

就連打電話也都沒人接。

Hussein said she would work with her tenants on payment options and perhaps even lower their rent if she could get ahold of them.

Hussein 表示她可以和房客討論租金問題，甚至降低房租也沒關係，但前提是能聯繫上他們。

I knocked on the door, nobody would open the door.

我敲了門，但沒人願意開門。

According to records she shared with us, if all the houses she owned were rented and current on payments, she would have collected for the month of April 16,000 USD.

根據她和我們分享的資訊，如果她所有的房產都租出去、房客也都有繳租金，那四月應該要能進帳 16,000 美金。

She only took in 6,300 USD, which she says doesn't cover her costs.

但這個四月她只收到 6,300 美金，根本無法負擔她的開銷。

It's so hard and I am so confused.

一切都好艱辛，我有點迷惑。

I'm lost and stressed.

我迷失了，壓力也好大。

Hussein says she hasn't been able to reach her mortgage lenders and is trying to get a small business loan.

Hussein 說聯繫不上她的抵押貸款人，她正想要申請小型的企業貸款。

Minnesota's Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, introduced a bill that would cancel rents and mortgages during the coronavirus pandemic.

明尼蘇達州的國會議員 IIhan Omar，推行了一條可以在疫情期間暫停租金跟貸款的法條。

We want to make sure with this package that no one is going to be left behind and that our system in itself is not going to break down.

我們希望在這個方案之下，沒有人會落單，而且我們的系統也不會因此瓦解。

But how big is this package?

但這個方案要花到多少錢？

I read through the bill and I didn't see dollar estimates.

我讀過這個法案，但沒有看到預算估計。

Without taking into full account, the scope of the problem, we can't really estimate the amount of money it's going to need.

還沒考慮到所有問題層面，現在很難估計這個法案究竟需要多少錢。

The bill has a tough road ahead with no broad bipartisan support and critics decrying provisions favoring renters.

該法案的前途很坎坷，因為沒有得到兩大黨的支持，且批評指出該法案較偏頗於房東。

How concerned are they about their businesses right now?

他們目前有多擔心自己的收入？

They're petrified.

他們嚇呆了。

They wake up every morning very concerned about what the future holds frankly.

他們每天起床，都在擔心未來究竟會如何。

One of the most active advocates for landlords in New York is the Community Housing Improvement Program, which has over 4,000 owners and managers.

在紐約最常為房東們發聲的組織是社區房屋進步組織 (CHIP)，在裡面有大概 4,000 名房主與經理人。

Jay Martin is the head of CHIP.

Jay Martin 是 CHIP 的老大。

Martin says the government should bear more responsibility and suspend taxes for landlords like Hussein.

Martin 表示政府應該承擔更多責任，並暫停收取 Hussein 等房東們的稅金。

Governments are not willing to entertain the idea of suspending taxes because they're also in financial hardship right now.

政府官員不願停止收取稅金，是因為他們現在金融狀況也很不樂觀。

Many of our municipalities across this country rely on these property taxes to be able to sustain their communities.

國家很多的市政，都要依靠這些財產稅才能運作下去。

So we want to make sure that landlords have the resources that they need in order to still fulfill their obligations.

因此，我們想要確保房東們有足夠的資源，如此他們才能繼續盡他們的職責繳稅。

So what happens if your bill doesn't pass, and nothing gets done?

如果這個法案沒通過，什麼事情都沒改變？

That will be a complete devastation.

這將會是個重創。

We are looking at, like I said, a huge collapse of our housing market.

我們現在面臨的，是房市的慘烈崩跌。

If this continues, what are you gonna do?

如果這個情況繼續，你要怎麼辦？

I'm just gonna have to stop making all the payments on these properties, even insurance.

我只能停止支付這些房產該付的款項，包含保險。

If something happen, I don't know what's gonna happen.

如果什麼發生了，我也不知道什麼事會發生。

I'm gonna have to stop because there's no money, there's no money.

我別無選擇只能停止，真的沒錢。

If May and the summer months are as bad for her as April was, Hussein says she'll have to let some of her properties go, or...

如果五月與接下來的夏月，情況和四月一樣糟的話，Hussein 說她只能出售手中的一些房產。

I have to go find a job, that's it.

我就只能去求職了，對。

And decide if I wanna continue being a landlord or I just wanna get out of it.

然後下決定，看我是否還想當房東，還是脫離這個行業。

I don't think I can keep handle... I can't handle it anymore.

我不認為我能撐下去，撐不下去了。

I can't.

我無法。