President Biden is coming under fire from housing advocates who say his administration is turning a blind eye as landlords seek to boot tens of thousands of cash-strapped renters from their homes despite a nationwide eviction freeze, The Hill reported. Tenant rights groups say the Department of Justice (DOJ) has yet to file a single criminal charge for violations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium, which carries penalties of up to $200,000 and a year in jail. “I think it would be helpful if they prosecuted landlords who are violating the law,” said Isaac Sturgill, an attorney at Legal Aid of North Carolina. “From my knowledge, DOJ hasn’t been enforcing the order. It does make it look more like a paper tiger.” Enacted in September as a public health measure, the CDC order aims to mitigate the spread of coronavirus by helping financially distressed tenants remain in their homes, instead of forcing them into homeless shelters or other crowded living spaces. Since then, however, the federal eviction protections have steadily eroded. A catchphrase has even emerged among some tenants’ advocates to sum up the current beleaguered state of the CDC moratorium: “It’s better than nothing.” “It’s getting weaker as time goes on,” Sturgill said. “People are figuring out more and more ways around it, and landlords are getting more and more emboldened to ignore it.” Housing advocates say three developments have primarily undercut the protections: Trump-era guidance that put a thumb on the scale for landlords, a slew of lawsuits against the moratorium and efforts by pro-landlord attorneys to exploit legal loopholes.
