White House Advisor Suggests COVID Relief Bill Will Extend Eviction Moratorium

• July 27th 2020

by Nena Perry-Brown

As Congress debates the contents of the next COVID relief package, the federal eviction moratorium expired last Friday. Now, it seems a moratorium extension is on the table.

National Economic Council director and White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told CNN yesterday that the federal eviction moratorium will be extended as part of the relief bill, CNBC reports. The moratorium covers renters in multifamily buildings with government-backed mortgages, previously estimated at 9.6 million units nationwide.

Kudlow also stated that the bill will extend unemployment benefits (minus the already-expired $600 supplement) and will include another round of $1,200 checks to some taxpayers.

Amid record unemployment and a patchwork of COVID relief measures nationwide, experts have estimated that up to 28 million renters in the US could be evicted and homeless by the end of September without additional intervention. Many (including DC residents) have called for widespread rent cancellation or forgiveness, and the House of Representatives passed legislation last month to extend the moratorium, create a national relief fund, and back emergency rental assistance (the bill has not been introduced in the Senate).

Republicans are expected to introduce a relief bill with the moratorium extension today.

Thumbnail photo by Ted Eytan. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/white-house-advisor-suggests-covid-relief-bill-will-extend-eviction-morator/17114.