The Department of Housing and Urban Development says that it will extend a ban on evictions in single-family houses with mortgages issued by the Federal Housing Administration, a protection that would be far narrower than the now-expired eviction moratorium in the CARES Act, CNBC.com reported. The expired moratorium also included properties backed by government-sponsored lenders Fannie May and Freddie Mac, and was estimated to have covered nearly a third of the country’s rental units. “HUD’s new moratorium only applies to a slight fraction of the units covered under the CARES Act and does nothing to protect the overwhelming majority of renters in the United States from eviction and its devastating consequences,” said Emily Benfer, an eviction expert and visiting professor of law at Wake Forest University. The federal eviction moratorium in the CARES Act expired at the end of July, and since it required tenants in protected properties to get 30 days notice of their eviction, proceedings will be able to start as early as next week, said Eric Dunn, director of litigation at the National Housing Law Project. At the same time that federal protections against eviction come to an end, many states that paused their own proceedings have now allowed them to resume. Since July 15, eviction moratoriums have lapsed in Michigan, Maryland, Maine and Indiana. Read more.
In related news, with less than two weeks before a statewide moratorium on renter evictions expires, California lawmakers on yesterday declined to back a plan that would have provided tax credits for landlords while sending a separate proposal that would protect tenants back for additional negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), the Los Angeles Times reported. Three other bills dealing with affordable housing and homelessness were also sidelined for the year as the Senate and Assembly appropriations committees rushed to meet an end-of-the-month deadline for acting. The Assembly Appropriations Committee sidelined a measure by state Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) that would have created a process for preventing evictions for three years as long as a landlord and tenant reach an agreement on forgiving rent in exchange for the landlord receiving a tax credit. Senators moved forward a bill by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) that would prevent evictions for up to a year. The measure, AB 1436, would block evictions of renters who missed payments during the COVID-19 “emergency period,” which would end 90 days after the state of emergency order is lifted or April 1, 2021, whichever occurs first. Landlords would also be allowed mortgage forbearance under the legislation. He cited a U.S. Census Bureau survey from last month that showed 4.3 million renters in California reported “little to no confidence” in their ability to pay rent in August. The measure is opposed by groups including the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Apartment Assn., which represents 50,000 owners and managers. Debra Carlton, an executive vice president of the association, said the delay in rents until 2021 will be a burden for senior landlords who depend on rentals for income and owners who need the revenue to pay mortgages and repairs. Read more.
Additionally, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed an executive order yesterday expanding a coronavirus-related emergency moratorium on evictions and foreclosures of commercial properties until Sept. 20, the New York Post reported. The move gives business owners heavily impacted by state-ordered closures associated with COVID-19 more another month to meet their rental obligations. “While we have made great progress in keeping New York’s infection rate low, this pandemic is not over and as we continue to fight the virus, we are continuing to protect New York businesses and residential tenants who face financial hardship due to COVID,” Cuomo said. It’s an extension from an original March 20 eviction moratorium impacting commercial and residential renters, although Cuomo recently signed another bill allowing tenants some protections if they can prove they’ve been negatively impacted by the coronavirus. But commercial tenants are feeling the crush — and have been for five months. A recent survey by the NYC Hospitality Alliance found over 80 percent of bar and restaurant owners couldn’t pay their full July rent. Nearly 40 percent said they wouldn’t be able to pay at all. Read more.
