CDC extends eviction ban through June 30

The Centers for Disease Control said Monday that the federal eviction moratorium has been extended through June 30, a move that will protect millions of tenants who have struggled to make their rent payments during the coronavirus crisis.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a historic threat to the nation’s public health,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. “Keeping people in their homes and out of crowded or congregate settings — like homeless shelters — by preventing evictions is a key step in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19.”

The CDC initially released an order in September barring eviction for nonpayment of rent through the end of 2020, citing a 1944 public health law. Congress extended it in December, and the Biden administration renewed it again through March 31.

Congress has also enacted more than $45 billion in rental assistance to help distressed tenants pay off back rent and ensure that struggling landlords are able to make mortgage payments, but little of that money has been distributed yet.

The eviction ban requires tenants to state that they have been financially affected by Covid-19 and can no longer pay rent. Evictions for other reasons are still permitted.

Monday’s extension makes no substantive changes to the policy, despite housing advocates pushing the administration to boost enforcement measures to prevent landlords from going around the moratorium.

National Low Income Housing Coalition President and CEO Diane Yentel said the extension was “essential” but does not go far enough.

“It’s disappointing that the administration didn’t act on the clear evidence and need to also strengthen the order to address the flaws that undermine its public health purpose,” Yentel said in an email.

“While the Biden administration is well aware of the shortcomings in the moratorium order that allow some evictions to proceed during the pandemic, the CDC director did not correct them,” she added. “She simply extended President Trump’s original order, leaving the loopholes and flaws in place, an unfortunate and shortsighted decision that will result in some continued harmful evictions during the pandemic.”