Goodcover Monthly Roundup | August 2022

Welcome to the Goodcover Monthly Roundup for August 2022.

Goodcover is modern and affordable renters insurance designed with our Members in mind. We help today’s renters prepare for potential surprises in the housing and finance worlds by bringing you highlighted news for the month. Check out our previous recaps here.

If you're a renter in the States, you'll want to keep tabs on these topics. Here’s what’s caught our attention this month:

Evictions and Late Payments:

• Marketplace interviewed Carl Gershenson from Princeton’s Eviction Lab about the eviction crisis. Gershenson breaks down interesting eviction demographic information and shares what kind of investment the U.S. would need to make in order to finally make his job irrelevant.
  
• And Bloomberg reports that 1 in 6 U.S. households are behind on their electricity bills. This amounts to about 20 million homes nationwide. Electricity is more expensive due to natural gas prices increasing, and energy companies are becoming more serious about shutting off power quickly.
  
  

Affordable Housing in the News:

• Activists for affordable housing in the Bay Area recently shared an open-source form letter and formula for calculating how much income someone needs in order to purchase a home and the percentage of single-family zoning in areas where multiple homes – like apartments and duplexes – could live. The goal is to encourage enough low-income homes to match the rest of the Bay Area.
  
  
• Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Marc Andreessen recently caught himself in a bit of hot water. Public records show that he and his wife, who publicly speak about progressive housing policies, allegedly sent a letter to the mayor opposing recommendations for multi-family home development in their city. They prefer single-family zoning, which has been labeled a discriminatory practice that hurts low-income families and minorities. Andreessen has yet to address why his private comments don’t match his public ones.
  

Inflation Still on the Rise:

• Inflation is expected to continue as the rental market continues to carry the weight of the housing crisis in America. Bloomberg reports that it’s essentially a perfect storm for renters.
  
• That aligns with the recent Freddie Mac survey which claims that 60% of renters received a rent increase in the past 12 months.
  
• One surprising exception to rising rents? The city of San Francisco, which Bloomberg reports hasn’t returned to its pre-pandemic rent levels quite yet. This contrasts to New York, which has roared back to its previous rent and tourism levels.

Rent Control Victories:

• Good news for Bell Gardens, California residents – the city council just unanimously voted to move forward a rent control plan that would cap increases at 4% annually. This still needs to be put to a final vote of approval, but it seems relief may be on the way.
  
  
• City council members in Antioch, California also approved rent stabilization. There is now a rent cap of 3% or 60% of the consumer price index (CPI). If you’re facing a rent increase in California, our blog post on the topic may be helpful.
  

Thanks for reading Goodcover’s Monthly Recap! If you like this series, be sure to check out more posts on the Goodcover blog. In August, we covered renters insurance in Arizona and Los Angeles and covered the most frequently asked questions about vandalism.

We also announced our partnership with Project 529, the national bike registry. All Goodcover Members with bicycles are eligible to receive a free bike shield sticker with an identification number to help others identify your bike if it’s stolen. Learn more about the partnership.

Want to help us with the next monthly recap? Follow us on Twitter and let us know what you’re interested in learning.

Onward towards autumn!

-The Goodcover Team

Note: This post is for informational purposes; insurance regulation and coverage specifics vary by location and person. Check your policy for exact coverage information.

For additional questions, reach out to us – we’re happy to help.