State of Play: Federal Eviction Moratorium Muddies State and Local Landscape Special from the National Apartment Association
T
he public health crisis caused by COVID-19 and the policy response at all levels of government has severely affected the apartment industry, from small mom-and-pop owners to larger multifamily housing providers. Most of the nation’s governors issued stay at home orders and eviction moratoriums to reduce the spread of coronavirus in the first months of the pandemic. But, while many areas have begun reopening and allowed their moratoriums to expire, 17 states and many of the nation’s larger cities continue to have emergency eviction restrictions in place via executive order, legislation or court order. On top of this patchwork of state and local eviction restrictions, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a federal eviction moratorium, effective through the end of the year. The National Apartment Association (NAA) acted quickly to notify its members of the order, analyze it and develop operational guidance for its members (including a 90-minute educational webinar). On September 18, NAA joined a lawsuit filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), challenging the CDC order and the agency’s authority to issue it. NAA also joined its coalition partners in calling for Congress to pass a robust federal rental assistance program to aid struggling housing providers and their residents suffering from the severe economic effects of COVID-19.
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Apartment News
In light of the CDC’s order, which went into effect on September 4, NAA spoke to a number of state and local apartment association leaders and government affairs professionals about the state of play in regards to eviction policy in their states, the impact of the new CDC order and what they are doing to advocate for the industry in this incredibly difficult political environment.
Advocacy Challenges
The types of emergency eviction policies established across the country vary greatly depending on party control and the power dynamics within the state. While some policymakers in progressive-leaning jurisdictions have made sweeping temporary measures permanent by codifying them into law, others continue to promulgate short term extensions of eviction moratoriums or other renter protections through emergency powers. With either approach, their goal remains the same: to minimize the risk of displacement and impact of COVID-19 on renters. As a result of this patchwork, NAA’s affiliated apartment associations have faced differing sets of challenges. Arguably the most challenging situation is dealing with continued extensions of eviction moratorium by executive order with Illinois being one of those states. The Chicagoland Apartment Association (CAA), for example, acted quickly and adjusted their advocacy strategy to concentrate on these new challenges.
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November 2020
“Governor Pritzker has continued every 30 days to issue that executive order [establishing an eviction moratorium],” says Tom Benedetto, Director of Government Affairs for CAA. “That has left us in a precarious position every month to try and re-engage and make our case to the governor’s office, to lawmakers.” Currently, Illinois’ eviction moratorium prevents housing providers from commencing eviction actions or engaging government agencies to enforce them. Convincing the governor to allow the moratorium to expire has been a tall task, so CAA, according to their Executive Vice President Mike Mini, has attempted to achieve modifications to the order, tailoring the moratorium to cover residents directly affected by COVID-19. “Our strategy has been to advocate to the Governor that the order is too broad, that residents should have to show they have been financially impacted by COVID-19 to receive eviction protections…we’ve been trying to get him to recognize there is a certain percentage of residents out there who we believe are taking advantage of the moratorium and simply not paying rent because they know that there’s nothing that anybody can do about it.” In other parts of the country, the industry has faced eviction restrictions imposed by the court system. Various state supreme courts, including Tennessee’s Supreme Court, reacted to State of Play — continued on page 36
