Expect The Most Evictions In History As Ban Expires

Prepare for a Wave of Evictions in January as Federal Ban Expires.

Millions of U.S. renters face the prospect of eviction in January unless federal officials extend protections put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

That month is when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ban on evictions is set to expire. The moratorium protects tenants who have missed monthly rent payments from being thrown out of their homes if they declare financial hardship. The CDC ordered the halt on evictions under the Public Health Service Act, which allows the federal government to enact regulations that help stop the spread of infectious diseases.

Between 2.4 million and 5 million American households are at risk of eviction in January alone, and millions more will be vulnerable in the months after, according to estimates from the investment bank and financial-advisory firm Stout Risius Ross.

Landlords have already filed more than 150,000 eviction petitions during the pandemic in the 27 cities tracked by Princeton University’s Eviction Lab. Many of those tenants have lost their cases, and are now on the hook for all their back rent.

Most Evictions In History

‘I don’t see how it’s possible that we’re not going to see more evictions on Jan. 1 than we’ve ever seen in a month,’ said John Pollock, staff attorney at the Public Justice Center

Questions Abound

• It’s easy to sympathize with tenants but what about landlords who cannot pay mortgages?
• Are we to postpone evictions forever while landlords lose their property? 

There has been no discussion in any of the recent Covid packages for further moratoriums nor aid to landlords who have not been paid for months.

So unless there is specific aid sufficient aid in the bill to allow tenants to catch up, millions of evictions are on the way.