Some courts throughout the U.S. are moving to forestall chaos by offering homeowners and renters some protection as the threat of evictions loom larger across the country. In New Mexico, the court system is setting rules to ease the potential crush of bill collectors and mortgage companies that may arise in the near future with the potential expiration of the federal eviction ban. The state’s Administrative Office of the Courts earlier this month “announced staggered deadlines for a return to debt collection orders that can be used to garnish wages or seize property to pay off commercial debts,” the Albuquerque Journal reports. Under the order, “money from standard and supplemental unemployment benefit payments will remain exempt from commercial debt collections,”…
A federal judge this week suggested that “gamesmanship” may be a factor in the ongoing legal tussle between the federal government and U.S. landlords over Washington’s extended eviction ban. DC District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich this week considered a request by a coalition of landlords to put a stay on the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest nationwide ban on evictions. Friedrich suggested that there is “a degree of gamesmanship going on” with the CDC’s eviction ban, coming on the heels of the Supreme Court’s ruling that directed any future bans to come from Congress, not the executive branch. The judge nevertheless indicated that she may let the current moratorium stand given earlier rulings permitting the last ban…
The federal government is deploying millions of dollars to help older Americans make repairs and modifications to their homes as part of a targeted “age-in-place” initiative. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded “$30 million to 32 nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and public housing authorities to assist in undertaking comprehensive programs that make safety and functional home modifications and limited repairs to meet the needs of low-income elderly homeowners that allow them to age in place,” the agency said in a press release. The initiative, administered through the department’s Older Adults Home Modification Program, will facilitate “low-cost home modifications” that “reduce the risk of falling” for older Americans. The project will “improve their general safety,…
The editorial board of the Washington Post this week bluntly stated that the most recent eviction moratorium issued by the Biden administration is essentially guaranteed to be struck down by the Supreme Court. The Biden CDC issued the new ban this week after the prior version expired on July 31. This week’s moratorium comes after the Supreme Court in June ruled that any additional moratoriums would have to come from Congress, not the executive branch. On Thursday, the Washington Post’s editorial board conceded that, in light of that ruling, Biden’s new order was “almost certainly illegal.” “Under pressure from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi … and progressive Democrats, President Biden and the CDC may have muted accusations that they failed to…
An association of realtors on Wednesday asked a U.S. district court to halt the enforcement of the extended eviction moratorium put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week. The NAR said in a Wednesday press release that it had assisted realtors in Alabama and Georgia in filing “an emergency motion Wednesday night with Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asking her to enforce the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent order that the CDC could not extend the moratorium without new legislation.” The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the CDC could not extend its moratorium past July 31 without “clear and specific congressional authorization.” President Joe Biden has…
The Biden administration this week extended the eviction moratorium in areas that it deems have “high” SARS-Cov-2 transmission, a targeted measure the White House is putting forth after the expiration of the broader mandate at the end of last month. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday that the order “applies in United States counties experiencing substantial and high levels of community transmission levels of SARS-CoV-2.” It is set to expire on Oct. 3. “The emergence of the delta variant has led to a rapid acceleration of community transmission in the United States, putting more Americans at increased risk, especially if they are unvaccinated,” CDC Director Rochelle Wallensky said in the release. “This moratorium is the…
The Federal Housing Finance Agency has extended a limited eviction moratorium on properties owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pushing the lapse of that ban back another two months. The FHFA said in a press release that it was extending the moratorium on “single-family real estate owned” properties, specifically ones that “have been acquired by [Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac] through foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transactions.” “The pandemic continues to have an outsized impact on the ability of Americans to meet their monthly rent or mortgage payments,” Acting FHFA Director Sandra Thompson said in the release. “Today’s extension of the eviction moratorium protects particularly vulnerable Americans who otherwise would be at risk of losing a place to live.”…
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Sunday night urged President Joe Biden to restart the recently expired eviction moratorium, calling it a “moral imperative” to avoid a wave of foreclosures and evictions. Claiming that “science and reason” demand an extension of the moratorium, the House joint leadership statement said the pause “must be extended, and the funds Congress allocated to assist renters and landlords must be spent.” The moratorium has been in place since last year but was allowed to expire on July 31. Experts and advocates have warned that the country may be facing a looming eviction and foreclosure crisis with the ban’s expiration. Both federal and state governments have reportedly been struggling to distribute critical rental…
The Biden administration this week called for Congress to extend the federal eviction moratorium past its July 31 deadline, claiming the surge of the Sars-Cov-2 “Delta variant” warranted the additional protection. The administration in a press release noted that the Supreme Court had forbidden the executive branch from unilaterally extending the moratorium any longer, and that, as the court put it, “clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation) would be necessary for the CDC to extend the moratorium past July 31.” “In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the President calls on Congress to extend the eviction moratorium to protect such vulnerable renters and their families without delay,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. The administration did not specify just…
A consortium of landlords has filed a lawsuit against the federal government due to their reported losses of income over the past year amid Washington’s long-lasting eviction moratorium. The National Apartment Association filed the complaint in the court of federal claims this week. The group claimed that the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium has cost landlords “tens of billions of dollars” throughout the country. “As a result of the CDC Order and their consequent inability to exercise their constitutional property rights and contractual rights, property owners in the United States have suffered enormous economic consequences,” the suit argues. “Without limitation, while continuing to incur all costs of ownership, they have been unable to evict non-rent-paying tenants…
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