The Biden administration allowed an earlier moratorium to lapse on July 31, saying it had no legal authority to allow it to continue. But the CDC issued a new moratorium days later amid mounting pressure from lawmakers and others to help vulnerable renters stay in their homes amid the surge of the coronavirus’ delta variant.
As of Aug. 2, roughly 3.5 million people in the United States said they faced eviction in the next two months, according to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.
The new moratorium temporarily halted evictions in counties with “substantial and high levels” of virus transmissions and would cover areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives.
The Trump administration initially put a nationwide eviction moratorium in place last year out of fear that people who can’t pay their rent would end up in crowded living conditions like homeless shelters and help spread the virus.
Biden acknowledged there were questions about the legality of the new eviction freeze. But he said a court fight over the new order would buy time for the distribution of some of the more than $45 billion in rental assistance that has been approved but not yet used.
