A broad coalition of real estate organizations representing for-profit and nonprofit housing owners, operators, developers, lenders, and property managers have voiced their strong opposition to the decision by the Biden administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reissue the federal eviction moratorium.
The nationwide eviction moratorium had ended July 31, but the CDC released a more limited moratorium Aug. 3, saying that evicting people could be detrimental to public health and would interfere with efforts to slow the pandemic. The new ban will last until Oct. 3 and applies to areas of the nation with high or substantial transmission of COVID-19.
“The emergence of the delta variant has led to a rapid acceleration of community transmission in the United States, putting more Americans at increased risk, especially if they are unvaccinated. This moratorium is the right thing to do to keep people in their homes and out of congregate settings where COVID-19 spreads,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “It is imperative that public health authorities act quickly to mitigate such an increase of evictions, which could increase the likelihood of new spikes in SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Such mass evictions and the attendant public health consequences would be very difficult to reverse.”
The coalition—comprised of CCIM Institute, Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, Council for Affordable and Rural Housing, Institute of Real Estate Management, Manufactured Housing Institute, Mortgage Bankers Association, National Affordable Housing Management Association, National Apartment Association, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), National Association of Residential Property Managers, and National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC)—stated the new order is taking place despite the Biden administration noting it lacks the legal authority for a more targeted eviction moratorium.
The organizations are calling for the administration to work with Congress, states, and localities to more quickly disburse the rental assistance funds to help struggling renters regain housing stability and preserve the viability of the rental housing sector.
“The move does nothing to speed the delivery of real solutions for America’s renters and ignores the unsustainable and unfair economic burden placed on millions of housing providers—jeopardizing their financial stability and threatening the loss of affordable housing stock nationwide,” said the NMHC.
The NAHB is reviewing the order to determine whether the new order applies to its members who were exempt from the previous moratorium after it won a key legal decision in March when the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled that the CDC exceeded the authority granted by Congress by issuing the eviction moratorium.
“As President Joe Biden said in his press conference [Aug. 3], the courts have made it clear that the eviction moratorium ‘was not constitutional—it would not stand,’” said NAHB chairman Chuck Fowke. “Instead, state and local governments should be putting more effort into connecting renters with federal funds designed to help them make their payments. The federal government has provided billions of dollars for this purpose.”
