With rental losses being passive income, you cannot deduct them against active income. The couple of exceptions [like R/E professional, or very low active income] do not apply to many “small time” landlords.
The current COVID-19 reality creates a wave of rental losses: tenants lose their job and income and stop paying their rent; government at all levels issues regulations blocking evictions; courts - if they function at all - do not issue eviction orders; even if they do, the sheriff will not evict or lock out tenants until the COVID-19 situation resolves, who knows how long down the road. Above all, it is borderline inhumane to turn your tenants into homeless families in today’s reality. All of which pretty much guarantees rental losses this year. For many landlords, this is the same as losing a job or paycheck, just like everyone else’s problem.
Bottom line question: with the astronomical stimulus packages the Congress is working on, is there / will there be a provision to allow deducting rental losses against other income sources, at least for this year, if not beyond?