Eviction Moratorium Extension Has a Poor Chance of Passage in Congress

The Biden administration said “uncle” for the second time on extension of the eviction moratorium, and it seems unlikely that Congress will come to the rescue.

Although the Supreme Court held in June that the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) did not have the authority to unilaterally extend the moratorium, as it had done multiple times, an August 2, 2021 statement by press secretary Jen Psaki made clear that President Biden continued to explore another CDC extension on Sunday, August 1. “He raised the prospect of a new, 30-day eviction moratorium—focused on counties with High or Substantial case rates—to protect renters. ”

The hope was that the action would allow states and localities “to ramp up Emergency Rental Assistance programs to full speed this month, giving every landlord the opportunity to collect the rent they are owed and ensuring no eligible family gets evicted.” However, CDC leadership could not “find legal authority for a new, targeted eviction moratorium.”

Biden wants other federal agencies to explore what authority they might have to stop evictions. In June, the Federal Housing Finance Agency extended until September 2021 its eviction moratorium for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-backed multifamily properties that had sought mortgage forbearance during the pandemic. He also called on Congress to extend the moratorium. 

Complicating the last-minute push for an extension is that $46.5 billion Congress promised in March of last year to aid renters and their landlords. As the White House statement noted, it was only in February 2021 that the funds began to be distributed, putting many property owners into serious financial straits of their own.

“Administering government programs, especially from startup, all the way through, is challenging,” Kent Syler, a professor of political science at Middle Tennessee State University and a former 26-year chief of staff for a congressional representative from Tennessee, tells GlobeSt.com.

“Whether you extend it or start evictions, how does it help a renter if the home that they’re in gets foreclosed/?” says Jamie Miller, Florida director for the political consulting arm of People Who Think and a former executive director of the Republican Party in the state. “The practical application is messy. There needs to be some level in balance.”

Congress could expand the moratorium, but that seems unlikely. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi urged her Democratic colleagues to extend the eviction moratorium to October 18, 2021, in a letter last Friday.

“As we do so, we urge states and localities to expeditiously distribute the money that Congress has allocated to renters in need,” she wrote. “Of the $46.5 billion provided by Congress in the December Omnibus and the American Rescue Plan, only $3 billion has been distributed to renters by state and local governments.  Families must not pay the price for that.”

But according to some reports, like one from the Mercury News, House Democrats were unable to rally the necessary support to pass a bill.

“If it’s struggling in the House, it’s virtually doomed in the Senate,” Syler says.  The chance of overcoming a Republican filibuster, which would require 60 votes, is highly unlikely given the 50-50 split in the body. 

According to an Associated Press report, many lawmakers were “blindsided” by inaction on Biden’s part, with some “furious” that he said Congress should pass a measure.

All that said, it also isn’t clear whether there will be a big jump in evictions. Some real estate experts have previously told GlobeSt.com that many landlords had already been working with tenants and that the eviction rate might stay around historical levels.