CDC extends eviction moratorium for another 30 days

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday extended the eviction moratorium for another 30 days.

The moratorium, scheduled to expire on June 30, now will extend through July 31 to prevent the eviction of tenants who are unable to make their rent payments.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a historic threat to the nation’s public health. 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 said in a statement.

An estimated 4 million adults who are late on rent reported they could be at “imminent risk of eviction,” according to the CDC’s extension order, citing a Census Household Pulse Survey from March.

If the national moratorium ended this month, the CDC said it is likely that an “unprecedented and avoidable surge of evictions” would occur. 

More than one million fewer evictions last year occurred compared to the previous year due to federal, state and local eviction moratoria, researchers estimate, the CDC said in its order.

Although eviction filings declined an estimated 50% compared to the historical average, there have still been more than 100,000 eviction filings since September just within about 35 cities and states with data, the public health agency noted. 

Landlord groups have asked the Supreme Court to block the eviction moratorium after a three-judge panel refused to halt the eviction order earlier this month.

The eviction moratorium bans landlords from evicting tenants while the order is enforced, so landlords are unable to remove a renter who can’t pay rent.

The moratorium was first issued in September under former President Donald Trump, but the government has continued to renew it, even after vaccines have been widely distributed.

The extension Thursday is intended to be the final one, the CDC said. The CDC has previously extended the eviction moratorium four other times. 

Property owners across the country, including struggling mom-and-pop operators, are asking the nation’s courts why landlords are expected to take a financial hit while non-paying tenants are protected by eviction moratoriums.

Lawsuits challenging the government’s eviction moratorium have been piling up, with some district courts delivering wins for the landlords while others have ruled for the government.

Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit invalidated the government’s moratorium but did not issue a nationwide injunction. The U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia also upheld the eviction moratorium, refusing to grant an injunction.