The eviction and foreclosure moratoria was the right policy response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new research paper from UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate. The paper, written by Ziman Center director Stuart A. Gabriel, reviews a study on the benefits of the foreclosure moratorium implemented after the housing crisis in California. Foreclosure prevention laws enacted in California during the Great Recession helped to curb mass eviction and hold up property values, and it is an indication that similar moratoria—this time for both foreclosures and evictions—could have a similar positive impact.

"If you look to the question of do we have evidence of the economic impacts of an eviction moratorium, the answer is that we don't have much, but we do have this study," Gabriel tells GlobeSt.com. "This study went through blind peer review and is published in one of the top three academic finance journals, so it has really been through the wringer in terms of careful scientific vetting."

Gabriel has been an advocate for both foreclosure and eviction moratoria during the pandemic, arguing that widespread eviction would be more detrimental for the economy. "I have argued consistently during the pandemic that there is various rational for foreclosure and eviction moratoria," he says. "Putting people out of their homes in the middle of a public health crisis when they don't have incomes is the worst idea possible. Obviously, it could exacerbate the virus and homelessness, and there is also a lot of political unrest in the economy. Putting people out of their homes that have no source of income is not a place for a happy society."