The Trump administration announced an order Tuesday to bar evictions for most renters for the rest of the year as the nation grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.
The order, put forward by the CDC, 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, compounding the crisis.
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 houses 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 in close quarters.
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.
The CDC’s order is at best a fail-safe should Gov. Tim Walz decide to not extend Minnesota’s executive order stopping evictions, which is slated to end Sept. 11, according to Minnesota housing advocates. However, the CDC order only applies to nonpayment of rent cases, and tenants have to submit a special declaration form to their landlord in order to prevent having an eviction filed on them. Without that form, if the Minnesota eviction moratorium were to end, tenants who have not paid rent would be in trouble. However, tenants can still be evicted if there are problems with alleged property damage, people not on the lease, or other complaints.
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 to struggling renters.
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.”
Staff writer Marissa Evans contributed to this report.