Washington, D.C. – NMHC statement on federal court ruling vacating the Center for Disease Control (CDC)’s nationwide eviction moratorium.
For the better part of a year, NMHC has made it clear that a nationwide eviction moratorium was not the appropriate solution for keeping families safely and securely housed. While we initially supported a voluntary and short-term halt to evictions as an emergency measure at the beginning of the pandemic, circumstances have changed drastically. Nationwide, long-term eviction moratoriums only serve to place insurmountable levels of debt on households and jeopardize the stability of housing providers who have been damaged by revenue losses over the past year and who may be struggling to pay their mortgages, finance property operations and meet their own financial obligations.
What has become clear over the course of the pandemic and resulting financial distress is that the best way to keep people in their homes is to provide them the resources necessary to meet their housing obligations and other costs. To that end, lawmakers in Congress fulfilled their responsibilities and passed almost $50 billion in rental assistance, as well as other supports like stimulus checks and extended unemployment benefits.
Already, rental assistance funds are in the process of being distributed to residents and housing providers in need. The pandemic and financial downturn have taken a severe toll on apartment residents and housing providers alike. Despite these hardships, apartment owners and managers continue to do all they can to make sure residents can avail themselves of these funds while keeping communities safe and secure. NMHC urges lawmakers at state and local levels of government to act with urgency to make sure these funds are distributed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Before this ruling, it was already clear that the current extension of the CDC’s eviction moratorium must be the last. NMHC encourages our members and all housing providers to continue to work hand-in-hand with their residents to keep families safely and securely housed and to take advantage of rental assistance funds.
Based in Washington, D.C., the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) is the leadership of the trillion-dollar apartment industry. We bring together the prominent apartment owners, managers and developers who help create thriving communities by providing apartment homes for 40 million Americans. NMHC provides a forum for insight, advocacy and action that enables both members and the communities they help build to thrive. For more information, contact NMHC at 202/974-2300, email the Council at info@nmhc.org.
