Federal government issues eviction ban for most tenants
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Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (left) and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, greet each other with an elbow bump after a House Select Subcommittee hearing on the Coronavirus in July. On Tuesday, the CDC issued an order halting most evictions nationwide. Erin Scott/Pool via AP
By David Brand
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a ban on most residential evictions Tuesday that will remain in effective until the end of 2020.
The unprecedented directive is aimed at “mitigating the spread of COVID-19 within congregate or shared living settings, or through unsheltered homelessness” as well as “mitigating the further spread of COVID-19” nationwide. The CDC said it has the authority to to impose the ban based on a 1944 law giving the agency broad authority to stop the transmission of illnesses across state lines.
The order prohibits landlords from evicting most low- and middle-income tenants who earn less than $198,000 when filing jointly or less than $99,000 for a single filer.
Qualifying tenants must also demonstrate that they have sought government assistance to pay their rent, prove they can not pay rent because of the impact of COVID-19 and show they will become homeless if evicted.
The measure comes as states and municipalities across the country implement various moratoriums of their own. An eviction moratorium in New York is set to expire Oct. 1 for tenants whose cases were adjudicated prior to the state’s March 17 shutdown.
Federal officials said local courts would still be called on to resolve disputes between tenants and landowners over whether the moratorium applies to their specific case, the Associated Press reported.
The controversial order received initial praise from tenant advocates who say it will help many people stay housed for at least three more months during the COVID-19 crisis.
Legal Aid Staff Attorney Ellen Davidson called the order “shocking but also a welcome surprise.”
“It is, however, disappointing to see that the Federal Government is willing to do more for tenants than Governor Andrew Cuomo and other Albany lawmakers,” Davidson said.
She and other tenant advocates have called on state lawmakers to return to Albany to vote on a concrete moratorium that will last for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis.
Davidson noted that the federal moratorium will not cover tenants in unregulated apartments where landlords can simply refuse to renew a lease.
“Conservatively, we believe that tens of thousands of New Yorkers will still face eviction because of this loophole,” she said.
Landlord groups say the eviction suspension does little to address the financial needs of tenants and property owners.
"Not only does an eviction moratorium not address renters' real financial needs, a protracted eviction moratorium does nothing to address the financial pressures and obligations of rental property owners," National Multifamily Housing Council President Doug Bibby told Law360.
