This coming Monday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is set to release an order extending the eviction moratorium, which was originally published in September 2020 as part of the government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. The moratorium has been continuously extended since it was published, the most recent order extends this moratorium through the month of July.
The notice in the Federal Register regarding the extension stated that “a landlord, owner of a residential property, or other person with a legal right to pursue eviction or possessory action, shall not evict any covered person from any residential property in any jurisdiction to which this Order applies during the effective period of the Order.”
The definition of “covered person” according to the CDC is any tenant or resident who gives their landlord a declaration indicating that they have tried to obtain all available government assistance for housing, earned no more than $99,000 in 2020, or expect to earn no more than $99,000 during 2021 and are unable to pay the full rent or housing payment “due to substantial loss of household income, loss of compensable hours of work or wages, a lay-off, or extraordinary out-of-pocket medical expenses.”
The tenant also qualifies if they have been making honest efforts to submit timely payments and would likely become homeless if not for government relief.
The order was and still is put into action for the purpose of mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in homeless shelters, and or any other refuge people might seek that would increase chances of transmission. According to the notice, the CDC found that homeless shelters were becoming a hotbed for the spread of COVID, with some shelters reporting infection rates of above 60%.
This order was not put in place to relieve people of their financial obligations for rent, the notice claimed. It does not apply to evictions of tenants who engage in criminal activity, endanger the health of other residents, damage property, or violate any codes or agreements under their housing contract, it explained.
“A person violating this Order may be subject to a fine of $100,000 or one year in jail, or both, if the violation does not result in a death,” the notice said. If the violation does result in a death, they could receive a $250,000 fine and one year in jail. An organization in violation of the order could receive be a $200,000 fine per event if the violation does not result in a death, or $500,000 per event if it does.
This order will take effect on July 1.
