WASHINGTON (CN) — Days before both the House recessed for an August state work period and the ban is set to expire, Congress stalled on extending a moratorium on evictions that was first put in place during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A vote on legislation to extend the moratorium through December was expected Friday afternoon, but the House recessed all day instead for Democrats to work out whether the bill had support. When the House reconvened around 6 p.m., Majority Leader Steny Hoyer offered a unanimous consent request to pass the Protecting Renters from Evictions Act of 2021 — but Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican, objected; killing the request.
Democrats through their bill Friday, sought to extend the moratorium to Oct. 18. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said in a statement it was also essential for localities to dole out some $46.5 billion in emergency funds Congress passed in the American Rescue Plan and December omnibus bill — with only $3 billion having been distributed so far.
The U.S. Supreme Court at the end of June extended the ban until Saturday. The Biden administration signaled it would let Congress takes the reins on extending the moratorium on Jul. 29, launching the House into action on the issue a day before lawmakers took an August break.
The federal government told justices in a brief to the high court, failure to extend the moratorium would increase the risk of spreading Covid-19 — as a mass housing exodus would force people into congregate living or become homeless. Realtors, small property owners and other individuals who rely on tenants for an income have said in court the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s moratorium unduly increases their financial burden.
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 6.4 million Americans were behind on rent by the end of March, with about 3.6 million in July saying they’d be in danger of eviction within two months.
A Congressional Research Service report on the eviction moratorium notes it doesn’t prevent landlords from charging fees or penalties on unpaid rent. The moratorium also doesn’t forgive unpaid rent and caps applicable tenants who make more than $99,000 annually, among other restrictions.
The District of Columbia is slowly phasing out its eviction moratorium, but landlords still can’t send eviction notices for contract violations until Jan. 1, 2022. D.C. Council members approved an extension of the eviction ban in early July, which included prohibiting rent increases for the entirety of 2021.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said during a press briefing Friday the executive branch hadn’t intervened on extending the moratorium due to the Supreme Court’s ruling. She said the White House would be working with congressional leaders and expressed how important it was to protect those vulnerable communities.
“We understand how critical that is, how important that it, it has been a lifeline to so many, so many Americans here,” Jean Pierre said. “So, this is a public health concern, as you can imagine that we think should be supported by both Republicans and Democrats.”
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