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“Housing is a necessary of life.”
United States Supreme Court
Block v. Hirsch, 256 U.S. 135, 156 (1921)
(per Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.)

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CDC issues order halting evictions for nonpayment of rent, covering most tenants nationwide, through end of 2020

 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a moratorium effective September 4, 2020, that bars eviction of most housing tenants, lessees, and residents throughout the United States, through the end of the year, where the eviction is based on nonpayment of rent.

Tenants who seek the protection of that moratorium must provide a copy of a written declaration to the landlord or other person who has a legal right to have the tenant evicted or removed. Each adult listed on the lease, rental agreement, or housing contract should sign a declaration affirming, under penalty of perjury, that the signer:

• Has used best efforts to obtain all available government assistance for rent or housing;
• Expects to earn no more than $99,000 in annual income for Calendar Year 2020 (or no more than $198,000 if filing a joint tax return), OR was not required to report any income in 2019 to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, OR received an Economic Impact Payment (stimulus check) pursuant to Section 2201 of the CARES Act;
• Is unable to pay the full rent or full housing payment due to substantial loss of household income, loss of compensable hours of work or wages, lay-offs, or extraordinary out-of-pocket medical expenses;
• Is using best efforts to make timely partial payments that are as close to the full payment as the individual’s circumstances may permit, taking into account other nondiscretionary expenses; and
• If evicted, likely would become homeless, need to move into a homeless shelter, or need to move into a new residence shared by other people who live in close quarters because the signer has no other available housing options.

In the declaration, the signer also must acknowledge that the other obligations of the tenancy, lease agreement, or other housing contract are not affected by the CDC moratorium—including responsibility to make the rent or housing payments and pay late fees and other charges that accrue.

The CDC’s moratorium does not apply to foreclosures on home mortgages. For information on federal protections regarding foreclosures, see, e.g., U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Coronavirus: Mortgage and housing assistance. 

For further information about eviction protections for tenants and homeowners at the state and local levels during the pandemic, you may click on EVICTION PROTECTION INFO WEBSITES. Other relevant information is given in EHI’s article, CARES ACT EVICTION MORATORIUM LAPSES AMID RECENT SURGE IN COVID-19 CASES AND DEATHS.

Disparate impacts of Covid-19 on minority groups are linked to much higher proportion who must live in overcrowded and/or substandard housing

In the United States, the Covid-19 pandemic has been exceptionally disruptive for the Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities. For example, as of July:

• Black people were more than twice as likely to die from Covid-19 as White people.
• Indigenous people accounted for more than 56 percent of Covid deaths in New Mexico (home to part of the Navajo Nation), although indigenous people were only 8.8 percent of the state’s population.
• Latinx people between the ages of 40 and 59 had been infected at a rate five times greater than White people in the same age group, nationwide.

Actually, the available statistics likely understate the disparate impacts of Covid substantially, because many states are inadequately reporting demographic data for Covid-related cases and deaths among minority group members. 

An important factor in Covid's disparate impacts is that a much higher proportion of minority group members have to live in overcrowded and/or substandard housing. That problem compounds other disproportionate impacts of the pandemic.

For example, people of color are more likely to: (1) have “essential” jobs in crowded workplaces; (2) rely on crowded public transportation; and (3) suffer from pre-existing health conditions. Studies have linked many of those pre-existing conditions to substandard and overcrowded housing.

EHI law clerk Jesse Brennan has documented the disparate racial impacts of Covid-19, and the relationship of those disparate impacts to America’s housing problems. To access that memorandum, please click on RACE, COVID-19, AND HOUSING.

The disproportionate housing problems of minority group members are largely the result of economically exclusionary housing practices. Those practices (exclusionary zoning and other, overly-restrictive, housing-related practices) prevent the building or preservation of sufficient amounts of housing affordable to low- and moderate-income Americans—especially in and near high-opportunity communities. 

Also, by pushing housing prices up, those policies prevent many low- and moderate-income families with children from accessing adequate housing units. For more on the health-related effects of exclusionary housing practices, please click on CHILDREN'S DEVELOPMENT & XHPs. 

EHI URGES VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO PASS EVICTION PROTECTION LEGISLATION TO FULLY ADDRESS COVID-19 IMPACTS

UPDATE: On September 7, 2020, the limited eviction moratorium that the Virginia Supreme Court issued in August ended, after the court decided (with two dissenting votes) not to extend it. The court's basis reportedly was the new, CDC eviction moratorium that took effect that day, nationwide. That moratorium is discussed above.

The CDC moratorium has somewhat different requirements from the one proposed by Virginia’s Governor on August 14 in advance of the Virginia General Assembly Special Session that he called, and that began on August 18. For example, unlike the CDC moratorium, Governor Northam’s proposal would:

• Pause evictions through at least the first four months of 2021;
• Condition that pause on the landlord and tenant working together on a payment plan, and seeking out financial assistance specifically through Virginia’s statewide Rent and Mortgage Relief Program, as well as other sources; and
• Pause utility disconnections for electric, water and natural gas utilities until 60 days after the Governor’s declared state of emergency ends.

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On August 16, 2020, EHI sent memorandums to the leadership of the Virginia General Assembly, urging enactment of eviction protection legislation at the General Assembly’s Special Session (which started on August 18). (The limited CDC moratorium falls far short of providing the degree of protection needed by tenants—and by landlords—resulting from the pandemic. Virginia is where EHI is incorporated and where its President resides.)

EHI’s memorandums document how crucial it is for Virginia (and other states) to take effective action of their own to fully protect residents from the loss of their homes due to the pandemic’s impacts. For example:

• About 384,300 Virginians were on its unemployment rolls as of June 2020 (8.4% of Virginia’s workforce—most other states have even higher unemployment rates) 
• Almost the same number of Virginia renter households (about 384,000) believe they are at serious risk for eviction by the end of 2020, due to nonpayment of rent 
• Before the pandemic, Virginia had extremely high eviction rates—more than twice the national average
• Evictions often have devastating effects on the people affected 
• Virginia’s statutes and regulations fail to adequately protect tenants

Eviction restrictions such as those proposed by Virginia’s Governor on August 14 are appropriate and necessary, In EHI’s view. Those proposals also are consistent with restrictions imposed by many other states. Other key parts of the solution are adequate funding to increase access to affordable housing, reduce homelessness, and establish a pilot program to reduce problems that result in eviction actions.

To access EHI’s memorandums (whose content is identical), please click on EHI MEMO TO VIRGINIA SENATE re: EVICTIONS, or EHI MEMO TO HOUSE OF DELEGATES re: EVICTIONS.