Concerns About the COVID-19 Delta Variant have Prompted the CDC to Announce a Fresh Eviction Moratorium

Concerns About the COVID-19 Delta Variant have Prompted the CDC to Announce a Fresh Eviction Moratorium

Following anticipated changes in the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the introduction of the Delta variant, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) imposed a new federal ban on evictions on Tuesday in counties with high levels of community transmission.

The CDC's latest eviction moratorium had ended earlier, and with the Supreme Court's decision last month prohibiting the Biden Administration from extending it without Congressional permission, the CDC was unlikely to give another extension. Unlike past moratoriums, however, this one focuses on certain parts of the country where cases are quickly increasing.

A moratorium had been enacted by Congress, but it was set to expire in September 2020. The CDC stepped in at that time and announced its own ban, which would run until December. However, Congress re-entered the situation, prolonging the CDC ban until January, when the CDC would take up the case again from Congress.

With the first CDC moratorium about to expire soon, President Joe Biden asked on state and local governments to immediately begin disbursing Emergency Rental Assistance money they've been collecting since February to avoid as many evictions as possible. Furthermore, state and local governments will be eligible for an extra $21.5 billion if the measure is enacted.

However, it is unclear if this current ban would avoid Supreme Court review. It's also unclear if the moratorium was enacted in response to the Biden administration's efforts to investigate alternative options for stopping the evictions. The moratorium order will be in effect until October 3 if it is not overturned by the Supreme Court. It covers all counties with “substantial and high levels of community transmission levels of SARS-CoV-2” as of August 3, according to the CDC.

Finally, any county that is not now covered by the order may become subject to it if it suffers the stated considerable and high levels of community transmission in the future, while any county that does not during a 14-day period will be removed from the moratorium's scope.