Emergency Bans on Evictions and Other Tenant Protections Related to Coronavirus

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2021-07-29 23:30:09

The federal government, as well as many any states, cities, and counties are taking steps to minimize the impact of the novel coronavirus crisis on tenants, including placing moratoriums on evictions, holds on shutting off utilities due to nonpayment, and prohibiting late rent fees.

Landlords in several states have challenged the validity of the CDC's order banning evictions. The latest challenge, in a federal trial court in Washington, D.C., resulted in a decision that invalidates the order. The judge applied her ruling nationwide, but stayed the decision (postponed its effect). (Alabama Association of Realtors v. HHS, No. 20-cv-3377, decided May 5, 2021.) The landlords appealed the stay to the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 29, 2021 the Supreme Court ruled that the eviction ban could stay in place through July 31, 2021, but that any further extension of the ban by the CDC would require "clear and specific" approval from Congress. Note that even when the federal CDC eviction ban ends, landlords and tenants who are subject to state or local bans must still abide by them.

On September 1, 2020 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an Agency Order titled Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions to Prevent the Further Spread of COVID-19 (Order). The Order went into effect on September 4, 2020, and was extended on December 27, 2020. (See Section 502 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.) The CDC's latest order extends the residential eviction ban through July 31, 2021. The CDC said in its June 24, 2021 press release that this is intended to be the final extension of the eviction ban.

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