Legally Brief: Tenant Protections As The Emergency Ban on Evictions Ends

The CDC’s Eviction Ban Is No Longer in Place. 

Background: The Alabama Association of Realtors, along with other plaintiffs, challenged the validity of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s August 3, 2021 Agency Order halting evictions in areas with high COVID-19 transmission rates (Order).

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (District Court) agreed with the plaintiffs that the Order was unlawful, but stayed (put on hold) its decision, leaving the Order in place.

The plaintiffs then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift (vacate) the District Court’s stay of its decision, which would result in the eviction ban created by the Order ending. On August 26, 2021, the Supreme Court granted the plaintiffs’ request to vacate the District Court’s stay.

As a result of the Supreme Court’s August 26, 2021 decision, the CDC’s eviction ban is no longer in place.

Assistance Still Available:

  • Even though the CDC’s eviction ban has ended, states, counties, and cities can still ban evictions and enact other tenant protections. Indiana does NOT have an eviction ban.
  • Also, both tenants and landlords who are struggling can check the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Dashboard to find local assistance programs.

Other Federal Tenant Protections:

The government-backed mortgage buyers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (FHFA) have prohibited landlords of multifamily properties with Freddie Mac- and Fannie Mae-backed mortgages from evicting tenants until at least September 30, 2021. For the most current details on the FHFA’s tenant protections, see the FHFA information sheet. To find out if your rental is covered by the Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac eviction bans, visit Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and enter your address. You can also use the National Low Income Housing’s federal eviction moratorium lookup tool to see if your address is covered by one of the federal eviction bans.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is maintaining a detailed explanation of the federal eviction bans.

Other Resources:

  • You can check to see if your utility providers have taken the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Keep Americans Connected pledge to not disconnect residential or small business customers during the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Sources of Coronavirus Assistance for Landlords and Tenants: A list of federal, state, local, non-profit, and private sources of financial assistance and other resources for both tenants and landlords.
  • The National Low Income Housing Coalition has an Emergency Rental Assistance Dashboard where you can look up local sources of rental assistance.
  • If you need to find out the median income where you live to see if you qualify for certain types of assistance, you can use Fannie Mae’s Area Median Income Lookup Tool.

 

Questions? Email Kerry Hyatt Bennett at kbennett@icadvinc.org or call 317.441.3130

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