CDC Extends Eviction Moratorium Through June 30; Order Should Not Apply to NAHB Members

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today modified and extended its eviction moratorium order until June 30, 2021. 

Due to a previous court ruling in which NAHB took part, this order should not apply to NAHB members, though non-members will need to comply with the CDC order. However, all parties – NAHB members and non-members – must still comply with any state or local eviction moratoriums that remain in effect.

The modification that the CDC released today include a statement of intent, changes to the applicability section, a new section concerning the declaration forms and new information about the pandemic. Recently, three separate federal courts have found that the CDC's moratorium is unlawful.

In NAHB's case, the Northern District of Ohio found that Congress did not provided the CDC with the authority to issue such a moratorium. This extension should not alter that decision. As noted in a previous NAHBNow post, the reason the court decision was set aside for all NAHB members — and not all landlords nationwide — is because NAHB was a plaintiff in the case and we had "representational standing."

This means NAHB was acting as a representative of its members who have been impacted by the moratorium. When an association wins a case like this, the decision applies to all its members. And while this is an important legal win to rein in federal overreach, NAHB continues to urge members to seek access to the $46.5 billion of rental funding through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program via your local government and state housing finance agencies before pursuing an eviction or as an alternative to starting eviction proceedings.

Furthermore, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission have issued a joint statement explaining that the agencies "will be monitoring and investigating eviction practices, particularly by major multistate landlords, eviction management services, and private equity firms, to ensure that they are complying with the law."

The agencies are also encouraging people that have a pandemic related financial hardship to file a complaint. For more information, contact Tom Ward.

This post provides general information and does not constitute any legal advice. NAHB encourages all members to consult their local landlord-tenant attorney prior to filing an eviction.