The Centers for Disease Control originally announced the publication of an Order on Sept. 4, 2020, creating a “Temporary Halt on Evictions” program applicable to tenants who have suffered economic impacts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and fallen behind on their rent. By providing a “CDC Declaration form” to their Landlord, tenants establish their eligibility to temporarily delay the final process of eviction for non-payment of rent. The Order originally prevented such tenants from being removed from their homes until after Jan. 1, 2021.
This date was extended to July 31, 2021, with the CDC declaring it would be the final extension. The Supreme Court ruled in early July that no extension of the Order would be legal unless authorized by an Act of Congress. Congress went into recess on July 30th with no action on such an authorization, bringing the CDC Order to an end on July 31st.
Update – August 27, 2021
Thursday evening, the Supreme Court issued an Opinion that blocked the Biden administration’s recently reissued CDC Order, which had protected eligible tenants from actual eviction from their rental homes. “If a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue, Congress must specifically authorize it,” the court wrote in an unsigned, eight-page opinion.
In the unsigned eight-page majority opinion the Supreme Court stated the CDC, in barring evictions, relied on “a decades-old statute that authorizes it to implement measures like fumigation and pest extermination” and “strains credulity to believe that this statue grants the CDC the sweeping authority that asserts”
What does this mean?
This means that starting on Aug. 27th, evictions will no longer be “halted” by CDC Declarations. Cases that are in the process anywhere in the nation can now proceed all the way to a conclusion, when necessary, up to and including lock-out/set-out. A couple of important additional items, however, are worth raising for you as reminders:
1.) The CARES Act is still the law today and was not impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision. So, “Covered Properties” should still expect to send 30-day notices to tenants prior to filing cases for ‘non-payment of rent’, as those NTVs will likely remain required into the foreseeable future;
2.) ALL landlords remain subject to the terms and conditions agreed to as part of rental assistance programs they take part in. We encourage our clients to ALWAYS provide us with copies of all written rental assistance program documentation with any new case submissions, so we can review them and advise of any issues raised by those Agreements.
The original version of this page has been archived since it is no longer applicable.
