FHFA Announces Multifamily Tenant Protections

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced that tenants of multifamily properties with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) who are subject to eviction for nonpayment of rent must be given 30 days' notice to vacate before the tenant can be required to leave the unit. This requirement applies to all Enterprise-backed multifamily properties, regardless of whether the loan is in forbearance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) eviction moratorium expires on July 31. NAHB has actively advocated for emergency rental assistance to help those impacted by the pandemic and to protect the viability and stability of the rental housing industry. The Treasury Department has disbursed more than $46 billion in rental assistance to state and local programs for relief to both landlords and tenants. NAHB continues to urge members to seek access to rental assistance funding via your local government and state housing finance agencies before pursuing an eviction or as an alternative to starting eviction proceedings.

Resources for Renters and Landlords

Tenants can learn more about Emergency Rental Assistance programs by visiting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's online Rental Assistance Finder. NAHB has a sample script that landlords can use to contact tenants and walk them through the steps to apply for assistance and/or request permission to apply on their behalf. The script, and other multifamily COVID resources, can be found on the Multifamily and Affordable Housing Resources for COVID-19 page on nahb.org. You can also visit the Coronavirus Response and Recovery section on nahb.org for more pandemic-related tools and resources. Separately, on June 24, the White House published a fact sheet outlining various federal initiatives to promote housing stability by supporting vulnerable tenants and preventing foreclosures. FHFA’s website also has a fact sheet on tenant protections for Enterprise-backed properties in response to COVID-19.