In an unprecedented move on Tuesday, with Congress unable to reach a common ground on virtually any stimulus extension, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unveiled today it would temporarily – at least through the end of 2020 – suspend most rental evictions for Americans struggling to pay rent due to the pandemic, in a step which CNN dubbed was “broader than eviction protections already in place.” The move comes as negotiations on further coronavirus aid have been stalled as Republicans and Democrats refuse to budge on topline numbers for what a new relief package would cost.
In a phone call with reporters, officials said the order will apply to Americans who qualified for direct payments under the CARES Act.
To be sure there are some hurdles: renters will have to prove that they’ve taken “best efforts possible to seek government assistance to make their rental payments,” and will have to “declare that they are unable to pay rent due to Covid financial hardship,” and must show they “will likely become homeless or move into congregate housing settings if they are evicted”, but that should not be a problem for anyone willing to live rent free indefinitely.
Renters will also have to fill out several forms, found on the CDC’s website, and give them directly to their landlords to qualify for the program.
“This will be a declaration presented to the landlord, if that landlord approaches a tenant with an intent to evict,” an official said. Because the move is federally mandated, it “would become a criminal offence” if the landlord chose to ignore the declaration. But it could still end up in courts, possibly leading to legal actions that could show up on background checks or credit reports.
And while landlords are being effectively stripped of most if not all of their rights with this extraordinary intervention, they will still be able to remove tenants for “committing criminal acts, threatening the health and safety of other residents, damaging property or other health and safety considerations,” an official added although good luck getting through to the local police station and reporting a crime in a country where defunding the local law enforcement is seen as the pinnacle of progressive thought. – READ MORE
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