The CDC Eviction Moratorium is now set to continue until June 30. This is the third extension of the CDC's moratorium, which began initially in September 2020.
There have been increasing challenges to the CDC Order. Most recently, a federal district court in western Tennessee struck down the Order as unenforceable. This ruling echoes similar decisions by courts in Texas and Ohio. But these three federal decisions are only binding in those particular areas. In Georgia, two counties, Carroll and Coweta, have reportedly chosen to just ignore the CDC Order. Chief Magistrate Alton Johnson in Carroll County has stated “the CDC, as far as I know, has no control over Georgia courts.”
An interesting ongoing project, The Eviction Lab at Princeton University, has tracked residential eviction filings in five states and twenty-seven cities. The Lab recently issued a preliminary analysis based on the six-month anniversary of the CDC Order. Overall, new eviction filings were around 50% of the historical average for the same time period. State-to-state comparisons, however, showed much greater variance. For instance, cities in Florida showed little difference from historical averages.
The CDC order (detailed here) prevents residential evictions for non-payment of rent provided tenants sign and present to their landlords a sworn declaration establishing certain criteria (for instance, a substantial loss of household income). The CDC Order does not prevent evictions for reasons other than non-payment of rent, and it does not prevent lawsuits to collect unpaid rent. Further, it does not prevent eviction lawsuits from being filed, so long as tenants are not actually evicted prior to the deadline.
As always, Downs Law is closely monitoring eviction developments. We would love to hear from you with any questions or concerns about the CDC's recent extension.
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