_Presidents_Column_Logo_w_pic_(1).png){kind=logo}
You may have heard, but right when the eviction moratorium was set to expire last month, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention issued a new eviction moratorium on August 3. This move means tenants can stay in their homes and everyone is happy, right? Not so fast.
In an article from the Tennesseean, Cassandra Stephenson reports that “Judges and legal experts say it likely does not apply in Tennessee, despite nearly all of the state’s counties meeting the order’s “substantial or high” COVID-19 transmission rate requirements. But, importantly, the moratorium doesn’t apply in areas where its application is barred by federal court orders, the CDC order states.”
Stephenson continues, “Guidance issued to judges by the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts following a recent federal court ruling instructs that the CDC moratorium is not effective in Tennessee. ‘It’s really safe to tell people that they shouldn’t rely on the eviction moratorium to apply in Tennessee,’ said Zachary Oswald, managing attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands. The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati — which has jurisdiction over Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan — ruled on July 23 that the CDC lacked authority to impose the eviction moratorium in Tiger Lily, LLC v. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.”
So now it looks like Tennessee might not have to adhere to this new moratorium, but this by far doesn’t mean that the issue is put to bed. I’ve noticed that many people are trying to make this a clear black-and-white issue with clearly defined sides. Good against bad. Rich against poor. And as with most issues, this falls somewhere in the middle.
Turn on the tv, radio, or log into social media, and you’re likely to hear about how tenants that have not paid in several months across the country are now being faced with eviction. In many cases, this might be an unfortunate circumstance. No one asked for this pandemic or the economic hardships it brought. But I think it’s also important to look at the financial obligations of landlords across the nation. Landlords themselves are now facing unique problems as property owners since they are often still paying lenders for their particular properties.
In a great deal of these circumstances, we’re not talking about huge property managers who manage countless living spaces. “About half of all housing providers in the country are mom-and-pop operators, and without rental income, they cannot pay their own bills or maintain their properties,” says National Association of Realtors® (NAR) 2021 President Charlie Oppler.
“About half of all housing providers are mom-and-pop operators, and without rental income, they cannot pay their own bills or maintain their properties,” says NAR President Charlie Oppler, a broker-owner from New Jersey. “NAR has always advocated the best solution for all parties was rental assistance paid directly to housing providers to cover the rent and utilities of any vulnerable tenants during the pandemic. No housing provider wants to evict a tenant and considers it only as a last resort.”
The solution is and always has been rental assistance. Congress has already allocated nearly $50 billion. Efforts now should be put toward the administration of those programs. Attempting the continuation of a moratorium the Supreme Court has already indicated isn’t legal sends a mixed message to those it was designed to help and fails to address the real solution to the problem. NAR has partnered with the White House during the past several weeks in the effort to get rental assistance funds into the hands of housing providers on behalf of their struggling tenants. We will continue that effort.
“NAR has always advocated the best solution for all parties was rental assistance paid directly to housing providers to cover the rent and utilities of any vulnerable tenants during the pandemic. No housing provider wants to evict a tenant and considers it only as a last resort,” said Oppler.
The new Rental Assistance Finder available at consumerfinance.gov/renthelp can guide housing providers and renters to assistance programs in their area.
It is unfortunate for all parties to find ourselves back in this position of uncertainty. Tenants continue to accrue mounting debt-up to 18 months of back rent in some cases, while small housing providers struggle to pay their bills and maintain their properties. It is not a sustainable situation for anyone.
As for Realtors who are also landlords, we will continue to work to protect the rights of property owners, while pointing vulnerable tenants towards the assistance that is so desperately needed, and is available to them. That’s Who We R®.