BREAKING: CDC Eviction Moratorium Extended Through June 30, 2021
The Centers for Disease Control has just extended the national eviction moratorium through the end of June. “The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a historic threat to the nation’s public health,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. “Keeping people in their homes and out of crowded or congregate settings — like homeless shelters — by preventing evictions is a key step in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19.” The new order, entitled “CDC Temporary Halt In Residential Evictions to Prevent the Further Spread of Covid-19” is embedded below.
The eviction ban was scheduled to expire on March 31. While there have been several court rulings in other states overturning the eviction ban, it will remain in place here in Massachusetts in the absence of an adverse court ruling. The moratorium applies primarily to non-payment cases, however, at least one Housing Court judge has applied it to “no fault” cases where the landlord has also made a claim for unpaid rent. Notices to quit and new eviction cases can still be filed and advanced through the court system, however, the CDC moratorium will prevent executions, or move-out orders, to be issued against qualifying tenants.
The CDC eviction moratorium requires that tenants take an affirmative step to qualify for protection. Tenants must send their landlord a CDC-approved affidavit in which they certify under oath that they are:
- Unable to pay rent due to a coronavirus-related job loss or income reduction, or qualified fora direct stimulus payment under the CARES Act or expect to earn less than $ 99,000, or $ 198,000 if filing a joint tax return.
- Have made best efforts to obtain all available government assistance to cover rent;
- Is unable to pay full rent due to a substantial loss of household income, loss of compensable hours of work or wages, a lay-off, or extraordinary out of pocket medical expenses;
- Is using best efforts to make timely partial payments of rent that are as close to the full payment as the individual’s circumstances may permit, taking into account other non discretionary expenses; and
- Eviction would likely render the tenant homeless or force him/her to move into and live in close quarters in a new congregate or shared living setting because the tenant has no other available housing options.