CDC Announces A New, Temporary, Limited Eviction Moratorium Through October 3rd for Counties With Substantial and High Rates of Covid Transmission

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in CDC Eviction Moratorium / Comments

Well that didn't take long.  Not even two full business days after the CDC's Eviction Moratorium ended and now we have another moratorium in place.  

On Tuesday, August 3, 2021 at the direction of President Biden, the CDC announced a new, temporary, limited federal eviction moratorium through October 3, 2021. This new Order is limited to counties that have a substantial or high rate of community spread of Covid.  This covers counties such as Milwaukee, Dane, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Racine, Eau Claire, and Dodge counties, to name just a few.  

So what does this mean?

The bulk of the new Order is the same as the old order.  It only prohibits the filing of eviction actions for the non-payment of rent if the tenant completes and provides the housing provider with a written declaration.  If you would like to learn more about the basics of this new eviction moratorium Order please refer to my prior blog post on the earlier moratorium .  

Below is a summary of some of the new aspects of this more targeted eviction moratorium.

1. The new Order only applies to US Counties experiencing substantial and high levels of community transmission levels of SAR-CoV-2 as defined by the CDC, as of August 3, 2012.

2. If a US county that is not covered by this Order as of August 3, 2021, later experiences substantial or high levels of community transmission then that county will become subject to this Order. 

3. If a US county that is covered by this Order no longer experiences substantial or high levels of community transmission for 14 consecutive days, then this Order will no longer apply in that county, unless and until the county again experiences substantial or high levels of community transmission. 

4.  Any evictions for nonpayment of rent initiated prior to the issuance of this Order but not yet completed, are subject to this Order. 

5. Any tenant, lessee, or resident of a residential property who previously submitted a Declaration, still qualifies as a "covered person" and who is still present in a rental unit, is entitled to protections under this Order. 

6. Any eviction that was completed before the issuance of this Order including from August 1 through August 3, 2021 is not subject to this Order, as it does not operate retroactively. 

7. This Order does not preclude a landlord from challenging the truthfulness of a tenant's declaration in court, as permitted under state or local law. 

8. This new Order is effective as of August 3, 2021 and will remain in effect through October 3, 2021.

I'm sure that many of you are saying to yourselves, "But, I thought the US Supreme Court already stated that the CDC overstepped its statutory authority when it ordered the prior federal eviction moratorium?"  That would be correct, but arguably since this Order is more narrow and only applies to counties with substantial or high community spread, the CDC will argue that the prior Supreme Court decision is not applicable to this new Order.  Furthermore, I'm certain that any new lawsuits filed against the CDC with respect to this new Order will take longer than October 3, 2021, when the new Order is supposed to end, to get through the court system and back in front of the US. Supreme Court.

As I said in earlier blog posts, this is nothing but kicking the proverbial can down the road.  It still does not solve any of the underlying issues.  With this new Order not only has the can been kicked a little further down the road, but the can has now made a turn around the corner, and is starting to go down yet a different road.