Evictions and Negatives: Biden wants to extend ban

Evictions and Negatives: Biden wants to extend ban

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One of several executive actions Biden wants to undertake on Wednesday is a signal from the incoming government that immediate action is needed to stabilize housing for the estimated 25 million tenants and homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes.

“Elected President Biden is taking historic action on the first day to advance his agenda – including signing 15 executive actions and agencies to take action in two more areas,” said Jen Psaki, the incoming White House press secretary.

The action seeks to extend the federal moratorium on eviction for non-payment of rent at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention by another two months. The CDC’s order only went into effect in September and the latest stimulus bill extended the protection until 31 January.

Elected President Biden will also ask the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to extend moratoriums on negative for federally supported mortgages until March 31. He will ask these agencies to accept applications for tolerance for federal guaranteed bonds. mortgages up to that time as well.

The Federal Housing Financing Agency (FHFA) on Tuesday extended its moratoriums on negatives and evictions until the end of February. But the president-elect will ask for the term to be extended. Biden will also ask businesses to continue accepting treaty applications for all loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, there were 14 million adults living in rental housing in December, behind their rents. This is 1 out of every 5 tenants. It is estimated that 11.8 million adults are behind on their mortgage.

These deficiencies have an exaggerated effect on families with color. While 12% of White tenants said they could not get their rent, 24% of Latinos and 28% of black tenants said they had fallen behind.

While Biden’s executive action will provide immediate protection, administration officials say the ban on evictions and denials is not enough.

That’s why the president-elect is also asking Congress to pass a Covid-approval bill that would provide $ 35 billion in rent, aid and homelessness. This is in addition to the $ 25 billion rent relief included in the second stimulus adopted in December.
The rent relief is critical because a ban on eviction does not cancel the rent. It costs more than $ 76.1 billion in twelve months just to help very low-income households, which are made up of tenants injured by this pandemic, according to an estimate by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Meanwhile, small landlords are being squeezed out.

Struggling tenants were protected by a patchwork of federal, state and local eviction moratoriums, many of which expired during the summer. The first major stimulus package provides close eviction protection for tenants whose landlords have a federally supported mortgage and for those living in federal-assisted housing.

Landlords' money is up.
In September, the Centers for Disease Control instituted an evacuation moratorium that protects all eligible tenants from renting. The emergency order temporarily prohibits new and previously filed evictions in an effort to prevent further transmission of the coronavirus.
But it is up to the tenant to appeal to the protection. And despite the ban, evictions are still taking place.

An eviction moratorium that is federally mandatory will be just as essential to those who are at the forefront of helping struggling tenants.

“If all we get is an extension of the CDC order, we will take it,” said Dana Karni, managing attorney for Lone Star Legal Aid’s Eviction Right to Counsel Project in Texas.

But she added that many tenants are still evicted. In Harris County, Texas, she said it was the minority tenants in the process who used the CDC protection. The CDC order does not protect against a landlord who does not renew a lease when it expires.

“In other words, things look terribly gloomy in Houston,” Karni said.

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