Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
CDC halts renter evictions nationwide amid pandemic
NEW YORK — The Trump administration announced an order this week to bar evictions for most renters for the rest of the year as the nation grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.
The order, put forward Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the action was needed to stop the spread of the virus and to avoid having renters wind up in shelters or other crowded living conditions.
The moratorium would go further than the eviction ban under the pandemic CARES Act, which covered as many as 12.3 million renters in apartment complexes or single-family homes financed with federally backed mortgages. That provision expired in July, although landlords could not begin eviction proceedings for 30 days.
To apply for the new moratorium, tenants will have to attest to a substantial loss of household income, the inability to pay full rent and best efforts to pay partial rent. Tenants must also stipulate that eviction would be likely to leave them homeless or force them to live with others at close quarters. Forms will be available on the CDC website once the order is published in the Federal Register.
The order provides for criminal penalties for violations, but it does not relieve tenants of their ultimate obligation to pay rent. It applies to those who expect to earn no more than $99,000 this year or who meet other income limits.
Tenant advocacy groups have said millions could face eviction in the coming months without government intervention.
President Donald Trump's Democratic rival, Joe Biden, called on Aug. 1 for Congress to enact a “broad emergency housing support program” to prevent evictions and shore up landlords. Congress enacted a $2.3 trillion pandemic rescue package in March that paused evictions in most federal subsidized housing, but that moratorium has expired and Congress and the White House have been in a monthslong stalemate over new relief legislation.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition, a policy group focused on affordable housing, welcomed the order but said further action was needed to provide financial relief.
The order “will provide relief from the growing threat of eviction for millions of anxious families,” said Diane Yentel, the coalition’s president, but she called it “a half-measure that extends a financial cliff for renters to fall off of when the moratorium expires and back rent is owed.”
The National Multifamily Housing Council, which represents landlords, denounced the moratorium.
House Democrats have proposed providing up to $100 billion in assistance to enable renters to pay landlords. The National Multifamily Housing Council supports the proposal.
In the first 10 days of August, landlords reported taking in 29% less in rent than during the same period in March, said Rentec Direct, a property management information and tenant screening firm.