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By Sarah Hansen | Forbes
The Trump Administration announced Tuesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will use its authority to temporarily ban residential evictions for certain renters through the end of the year.
The moratorium will apply to those individuals who expect to earn $99,000 or less in 2020 (or couples filing jointly who expect to earn $198,000 or less)—those who received a stimulus check this year, or would have been eligible based on their 2020 income, are also eligible.
Renters seeking protection under the new program must certify that they are unable to pay their rent because of the coronavirus crisis, that they are likely to become homeless if they are forced to leave their homes, and that they undertook their best effort to obtain other government assistance to make their rental payments.
“Relying on federal law allowing the CDC to minimize the spread of communicable diseases, the Centers for Disease (CDC) has placed a moratorium on residential evictions through December 31, 2020 for tenants who provide their landlords a declaration meeting the requirements below. Although the State of Arizona currently has a similar eviction moratorium in place, Arizona’s moratorium is set to expire October 31. The CDC’s expansive moratorium could benefit up to 30 to 40 million people nationally through the end of 2020. There has been no commensurate relief provided to landlords whose tenants have stopped paying rent or are relying on such a moratorium.
The declaration a tenant must provide its landlord must say the tenant: (a) expects to earn no more than $99,000 ($198,000 if married filing jointly) in 2020, (b) has used his or her best efforts to obtain available governmental housing assistance, (c) is unable to make the full rent payment due to layoff, substantial loss in income, decreased work hours, or extraordinary medical expense, (d) used his or her best efforts to pay as much rent as possible (i.e. partial payments) based on their current nondiscretionary spending, and (e) if evicted, would likely become homeless or force the tenant to move in with a new roommate.”
– Dan Gauthier, Rose Law Group Attorney
