The Biden administration says it won’t renew a federal eviction ban. The reason the administration says it’s unable to do anything is that there was a Supreme Court ruling handed down recently that said Congress ultimately has to take action. The expiration means six million renters could be at risk of losing their homes.
No Extension
The Biden administration won’t extend the pandemic eviction moratorium because they said doing so would likely lead to a challenge in the Supreme Court.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initially issued the federal eviction moratorium in September of last year. The ban was extended through last month, but July is its endpoint.
The temporary moratorium prevented landlords from removing people from their homes for not paying their rent. The suspension was established in response to the pandemic when the economy was mostly shut down.
Millions of people weren’t able to make their rent because of lost jobs and wages. The thinking behind the moratorium was that if something wasn’t done, a big wave of evictions would mean people would have to turn to shelters or crowd into homes with other family members, preventing social distancing.
Cities and states also put in place their own eviction moratoriums. New York’s started early in the pandemic that is set to go through August, and California’s will run through the end of September. California’s goes a step further by eliminating rent debt for low-income people facing economic hardship.
For residents of Washington D.C., landlords can’t start evictions until August 26, and only if they’d filed one against you before the pandemic. Other evictions can begin until October 12 in D.C., and you have to be given at least 60 days’ notice.
Hawaii’s eviction moratorium lifts on August 6, and Illinois runs through August as does Maryland.
In New Jersey, as a renter, you can’t be evicted until January. You also can’t be evicted for nonpayment of your rent during any month when your landlord accepted federal rental assistance.
Four states, Massachusetts, Oregon, New York, and Nevada, are temporarily banning any evictions for anyone with a pending application for rental assistance. The rental assistance program can be accessed through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They have a tool that lets you apply for rental relief and if you’re approved, you could qualify for up to 18 months of rent coverage.
What the Moratorium Didn’t Do
The federal moratorium did not forgive unpaid rent or fees. It just moved the debt into the future. When it ends, tenants have to pay back rent unless they can come to some other agreement with their landlord.
There’s no alleviation of financial responsibility because of the federal moratorium. There’s also nothing in the order that would prevent charging or collecting fees, penalties, or interest.
Additionally, the order didn’t protect residents from evictions for other reasons, such as endangering other residents.
President Biden Calls on Congress to Act
President Biden’s administration says they are calling on Congress to act to extend the federal moratorium, given the delta variant that’s spreading in the U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she believes the ban should also be extended and is working with a White House to find a way to make that happen.
