COVID-19

The U.S. Treasury Department released new policy guidelines Aug. 25 aimed at speeding processing of Emergency Rental Assitance Program (ERAP) funds.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich upheld the eviction moratorium that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued on August 3.

The American Rescue Plan Act increased the amount of and number of people eligible for the Child Tax Credit. Low-income families with children are eligible for this tax relief – including those who have not made enough money to be required to file taxes.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted an injunction blocking enforcement of a New York anti-eviction law, finding that a key provision allowing tenants to attest to their pandemic-related hardship in order to prevent eviction violates landlords’ due process.

HUD’s Office of Housing updated its COVID-19 Q&As on August 9 to reflect the CDC’s new eviction moratorium order announced August 3 temporarily halting evictions in counties with heightened levels of transmission.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a new federal eviction moratorium through Oct. 3 in communities experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases. As of August 1, over 80 percent of counties were experiencing substantial or high COVID cases and would be covered under the new eviction moratorium.

HUD updated its Multifamily Q&A for COVID-19 on July 29. The updated questions and answers pertain to which payments are to be included in tenant income calculations for HUD-assisted Multifamily housing and the Child Tax Credit.

The Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) issued a temporary stay on a lower court ruling seeking to overturn the federal eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The eviction moratorium will remain in place through July 31, 2021.  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended its eviction moratorium through July 31 for one final time. The one-month extension is designed to allow state and local governments more time to distribute emergency rental assistance (ERA) payments. The White House will hold a summit on housing affordability and evictions at 1 p.m. ET on June 30 and is increasing coordination with local officials and legal aid organizations to minimize evictions after July 31.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) launched an Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Resource Hub, Dashboard and Program Table to monitor trends, facilitate resource sharing and help renters access emergency rental assistance.

On May 14, the U.S. District of Court for the District of Columbia granted a motion from the defendants to stay the court’s decision to vacate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eviction moratorium in Alabama Association of Realtors v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The nationwide eviction moratorium remains in place until the Court of Appeals hears the case and makes its own decision.

The Illinois Housing Development Authority’s statewide emergency rental assistance program is now open for applications.