By Rachel Puryear

** NOTE: This article is no longer up to date. The CDC’s decision to extend the eviction moratorium was overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court subsequent to publication, but this remains up for the links to aid organizations. **

After the previous eviction moratorium expired on July 31, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended the moratorium for most renters until (at least) October 3, 2021. This time, renters in counties considered to have “high rates of Covid” are protected.

Who Qualifies?:

Renters seeking protection must also meet the same criteria as before; including making less than $99,000.00 in 20201 or 2021; and attesting that eviction could lead to homelessness or crowded housing, and that they have applied for rental assistance.

Wait – What About All That Rental Assistance?:

The rental assistance program was supposed to prevent the need for the eviction moratorium by helping renters catch up on rent. Doing so would have also alleviated a lot of hardship for small landlords, by getting them paid (many of whom are in turn struggling to pay mortgages without rent payments). Of course, this was supposed to have happened well in advance of July 31.

However, despite $45 billion paid to states to give out rental assistance, rental aid to tenants and landlords has been distributed painfully slowly, if at all. This has led to a situation where tenants and landlords who should have received assistance before July 31 did not, and therefore the eviction moratorium had to be extended because people had not gotten the help they need to catch up. I can only imagine how many brain cells have been burned up by the stress of waiting on assistance that takes forever to come, while an eviction is pending.

What if You Are Still Waiting for Help?:

• Check here to see if your county is covered by the eviction moratorium extension.
• If you have not already done so, apply for rental assistance ASAP, check here for a state-by-state list of programs. See also here for even more programs to help with rent and utilities.
• To attest that you need help and qualify, get the declaration form in English here, and links to the form in other languages here.
• If you are in eviction proceedings, you may be able to get free or low cost legal services from Law-help, here.

Thank you, dear readers, for reading, following, and sharing. Here’s to your getting the help you need.

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