Perspectives: Renters Celebrate Eviction Ban as Landlords Plan Legal Challenges
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A moratorium on evictions throughout most of the U.S. has created opposing narratives across the spectrum. The Biden administration announced an eviction moratorium in all U.S. counties that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rates as having "substantial" or "high" levels of COVID-19 transmission; as of Thursday, roughly 83% of U.S. counties meet those criteria. The new ban comes after the previous nationwide moratorium expired over the weekend, which was first issued in Sept. 2020 and extended after it expired in July. Congress allocated more than $46 billion in pandemic relief funds for rental assistance; roughly 93% of that money has yet to be dispersed to renters and landlords.
The ban has divided news outlets and commentators on left and right. Reports and perspectives from left-rated sources often focused on struggling renters and how the ban would help alleviate their financial stress. Coverage from right-rated sources often highlighted struggling landlords who are unable to collect rent and are planning legal challenges to the ban; some also recalled Biden's comments from earlier this week in which he said the White House lacked legal authority to extend the ban. Voices across the spectrum have questioned the ban's legality; right-rated voices have been quicker to condemn it as unlawful.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
Small-Time Landlords ‘Hanging on By Their Fingernails’ as Eviction Moratorium Drags OnOne of Raj Sookram’s tenants stopped paying rent in December. Another man hasn’t paid him a cent in 20 months. He now owes Sookram over $20,000.
One woman stopped paying this spring, Sookram said, then demanded that he fix her hot water heater when it blew. That ended with city officials threatening Sookram with daily fines.
In all, Sookram said, about half of the tenants living in his 13 Rochester, New York, rental properties are behind on rent. Sookram said he’s struggling to pay his bills and taxes. He’s had...
From the Left
Will new CDC moratorium keep tenants housed?After a federal eviction moratorium was allowed to lapse this weekend, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new moratorium Tuesday on evictions that would last until Oct. 3.
The new moratorium aims to keep millions in their homes and prevent the spread of the coronavirus’ delta variant. The order cites the fact that there are lower vaccination rates in areas most at risk for eviction.
The moratorium also give states additional time to get out nearly $47 billion in rental assistance, most of which has yet to be distributed to...
From the Left
Renters are rejoicing now that eviction ban has been extended. What you need to knowThis weekend, after the almost year-long ban on evictions expired, Ronald Leonard was terrified of being thrown out of his Daytona Beach, Florida, rental home. But then, on Tuesday evening, he heard the eviction moratorium had been extended again.
"I'm the happiest guy in the world," said Leonard.
Like millions of other renters at risk of losing their homes without the protective federal eviction ban in place, Leonard said he was a wreck on Monday and Tuesday, waiting in fear of a sheriff coming to his door after the moratorium expired on July 31.
"If I end...
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