A landlord and her daughter have been made homeless after her tenants refused to pay rent for a year.
Brandie LaCasse owns three properties in upstate New York in the US that have been occupied during the pandemic.
Despite her healthy property portfolio, Brandie is now effectively homeless after her tenants stopped paying rent last year and racked up $23,000 (£20,000) in arrears.
At least one of them was promised funds from the US Government's rental relief scheme, which is meant to be paid directly to landlords to take the pressure off during Covid, CBSNews reports.
The small family are now sleeping rough as they bounce between laying their heads in Brandie's car or staying at the homes of friends.
After falling on hard times, Brandie told the tenants to move out so she could move in, but all three refused and left the mum-of-one and her young girl with nowhere to go.
The tenants can't be evicted due to the US Government's current moratorium on evictions designed to protect vulnerable renters during Covid.
"I've cried many nights, like thinking, 'Where's my money?'" the US Air Force veteran told CBS.
She added: "I don't understand how they can give my private property to somebody to live for free. I bought that property. I fixed it up with my blood, sweat and tears.
"I invested in these properties, never thinking I wouldn't have a place to live. I just want my house. That's it. I just want my house," Brandie said.
Tenant Carla McArthur admits not paying the rent, but that she is still unable to as she is struggling to pay childcare costs for her daughter and autistic son.
"I feel bad that I have not been able to pay her," McArthur told CBS. "We've gone from two incomes. I had Covid-19 twice. My kids all have had it once. My husband's had it once. We've been affected by the virus."
Carla fears her family could also become homeless when the moratorium ends.
"That's what I'm afraid of, being homeless," she said.
New York State approved Carla's application for rent relief but delays in dishing out the $2.6billion (£1.9billion) means both landlords and tenants are struggling.
So far the government has only paid eight per cent of the promised sum.
The Treasury Department has promised the billions of federal money to landlords to lessen the financial burden of being unable to collect rent during the pandemic.
As Covid strained the economy and American unemployment rocketed, officials promised bans on evictions to prevent a surge in homelessness and to provide security for vulnerable citizens.
However, a report has revealed a vast amount of tenants underpaid their rental promises during 2020.
The US has no "housing safety net" and low-income households and landlords are being asked the "bear the cost of that", the reports co-author Vincent Reina, a housing policy expert and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, explained.
