Moratorium on Residential Evictions
On 6/29/21 the US Supreme Court refused to overturn the CDC’s (federal Center for Disease Control) nationwide moratorium on residential evictions, which continues to be in effect until the end of July 2021. The petitioners were a coalition of landlords and realtors. The vote against the landlords and realtors was 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining the liberal members of the court to form a majority. The CDC had said that this is the last moratorium on residential evictions that the CDC will order. But that CDC representation is likely NOT enforceable.
In their emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, the moratorium’s challengers said landlords have been losing $13 billion a month in unpaid rent and won’t ever recover all of that money. They said the ban on evictions is less justifiable now that the U.S. is easing Covid-19 protocols in light of declining case numbers and the growing vaccinations of Americans.
Local governments across the U.S. have struggled to quickly distribute approximately $47 billion of rental assistance authorized by Congress, with some complaining that their staffs are being deluged by a flood of aid requests. Numerous renters are being disqualified for failing to correctly complete their applications, local officials say.
When the moratorium was extended last week, administration officials said that rental-assistance funds were increasingly flowing to landlords. However, officials declined to provide an estimate for how much of the $47 billion was distributed.
The delays have added pressure on landlords who have gone months without back rent while continuing to be on the hook for taxes, insurance and maintenance costs tied to their properties even when their tenants aren’t paying.
About 4.2 million Americans report that it is “very likely or somewhat likely” that they will face an eviction or foreclosure in the next two months, according to Census Bureau data.