Only 80.2 percent of U.S. apartment-dwellers had paid their May rent as of May 6, prompting a landlord group to renew its appeal for a $100 billion federal direct renter assistance program.

The figure is 1.5 percent lower than the comparable period in May 2019, but higher than the 78-percent payment rate for the first six days of April, the National Multifamily Housing Council announced today.

The industry group said the magnitude of the crisis will continue to grow unless Congress enacts direct assistance programs for tenants. Because apartment landlords have $1.6 trillion in outstanding mortgage debt, rent delinquencies could lead to a wave of foreclosures, NMHC President Doug Bibby said.

More than 20.5 million jobs were lost in April, the U.S. Labor Department said today, bringing the unemployment rate to 14.7 percent.

“We expect May to largely mirror April, when the payment rate increased throughout the month as financial assistance worked its way to people’s bank accounts,” Bibby said in a statement. “However, we are in uncharted waters and will be watching this closely over the course of the month as millions of households will not be able to access unemployment benefits, and those who have may find that they are not enough to cover rent plus all the other financial pressures caused by this crisis. Those benefits will also likely fall short in high-cost areas.”

The survey is based upon a survey of 11.4 million units in professionally-managed, market-rate rental properties of various sizes, types and rent categories.

On April 21, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a law placing a moratorium on non-essential evictions that will last for 120 days, or until 45 after Baker lifts the COVID-19 state of emergency.