Right after the eviction moratorium was set to expire July 31, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new eviction moratorium Aug. 3. This means tenants can stay in their homes, and everyone is happy, right?
Not so fast.
In an article in The Tennessean, Cassandra Stephenson reports that “Judges and legal experts say [the new eviction moratorium] 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.”
The moratorium also does not apply in areas where its application is barred by federal court orders, Stephenson notes, citing the CDC order.
“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,” Stephenson continues.
Stephenson quotes Zachary Oswald, managing attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, who says it’s safe to tell people they should not rely on the eviction moratorium to apply in Tennessee.
“The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati – which has jurisdiction over Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan – ruled 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,” Oswald says.
So, now it looks like Tennessee might not have to adhere to this new moratorium, but this doesn’t mean the issue has been put to bed. I’ve noticed many people are trying to make this a black-and-white issue with clearly defined sides – good against bad, rich against poor. But as with most issues, it falls somewhere in the middle.
Turn on your television or radio, or log in to social media, and you’re likely to hear about how tenants who have not paid in several months across the country are now facing eviction.
In many cases, this might be an unfortunate circumstance. No one asked for this pandemic or the economic hardships it brought.
But it’s also important to look at the financial obligations of landlords across the nation, who are now facing unique problems as property owners since they are often still paying lenders for their particular properties.
In many of these circumstances, we’re not talking about huge property managers who manage countless living spaces.
“About half of all housing providers are mom-and-pop operators, and without rental income, they can’t 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.”
Congress has already allocated nearly $50 billion for rental assistance. 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.
The new Rental Assistance Finder available at consumerfinance.gov/renthelp can guide housing providers and renters to assistance programs in their area.
It’s unfortunate for all parties to find ourselves back in this position of uncertainty. Tenants continue to accrue mounting debt – as much as 18 months of back rent in some cases – while small housing providers struggle to pay their bills and maintain their properties. This is not sustainable 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 toward the assistance they so desperately need. That’s Who We R.
Greater Chattanooga Realtors is The Voice of Real Estate in Greater Chattanooga. A regional organization with more than 2,400 members, Greater Chattanooga Realtors is one of 300 local boards and associations of Realtors nationwide that comprise the National Association of Realtors. Greater Chattanooga Realtors services Hamilton and Sequatchie counties in southeast Tennessee and Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties in northwest Georgia. For more information, visit www.gcar.net or call 423 698-8001.