More Than 2,200 Organizations Call on Biden to Extend Eviction Ban

More than 2,200 organizations across the nation have written an open letter to President Biden and HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge requesting an extension to the eviction moratorium through the end of the pandemic. The signatories included a number of non-profits working on behalf of underrepresented communities, like American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

“The eviction moratorium extends vital protections to renters at risk of eviction during the pandemic, and by doing so, it has helped keep stably housed millions of people who otherwise would have been evicted. The federal eviction moratorium does, however, have significant shortcomings that undermine its public health impact. We urge you to extend the eviction moratorium to keep renters stably housed during the pandemic, and to address the moratorium’s shortcomings by improving and enforcing the order,” the letter states.

Those shortcomings include a lack of transparency between landlords and renters about the moratorium. The letter requests the administration require landlords to present residents with their rights under the eviction moratorium guidelines. In addition, the letter asserts that there are loopholes in the moratorium that should be closed, including a FAQ page on the CDC website that provides information on how landlords can proceed with an eviction without removing the resident from the property. The letter requests that the moratorium close this loophole and extend the ban cover all no-fault evictions.

Finally, the organizations push for better enforcement of the moratorium. There are currently no avenues for renters to file complaints or report landlords that are operating outside of the current guidelines. As a result, landlords continue to wrongfully evict renters in violation of the moratorium. “The Biden administration should create a hotline number renters can use to file complaints and should direct the DOJ to enforce the moratorium,” the letter states.

This letter comes as local courts rule against the CDC’s eviction moratorium, finding the moratorium to be unlawful. A federal court in Ohio was the most recent to pass the ruling, but US District Judge John Barker in Texas also found the ban unconstitutional in late February, although the decision did not impact the state ban.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the federal government does not have the authority to order property owners not to evict specific tenants. Instead, the decision whether to enact an eviction moratorium rests with a given state. However, the Ohio court instead ruled on if Congress had granted the CDC the power to enact such a moratorium. The decision stated, “[t]he most natural and logical reading of the statute as a whole does not extend the CDC’s power as far as Defendants maintain. Such a broad reading of the statute, … would authorize action with few, if any, limits … It would also implicate serious constitutional concerns, which Plaintiffs did not raise here.”  Ultimately, the court said “[t]he eviction moratorium in the CDC’s orders exceeds the statutory authority Congress gave the agency.”