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One of the easiest things @JoeBiden could do for poor and working class Americans is sign an Executive Order on his first day as President to #EndEvictions. He must *expand* the existing CDC eviction moratorium. It's wonky but the nuance matters, lives are at stake. Stick w me...
The current CDC moratorium, announced on Sept 1 and implemented on Sept 4, is supposed to #EndEvictions to protect public health. Ending evictions, the CDC said, would allow people to quarantine and prevent overcrowding in congregate housing like shelters. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/09/04/2020-19654/temporary-halt-in-residential-evictions-to-prevent-the-further-spread-of-covid-19
Trouble is: The current CDC moratorium is NOT ending all evictions. So, it's failing to meet it's public health mandate.
The CDC order doesn't apply to all evictions, just those related to rent. This allows landlords to find other reasons to evict, like noise complaints.
The CDC order doesn't apply to all evictions, just those related to rent. This allows landlords to find other reasons to evict, like noise complaints.
The current CDC eviction moratorium places the burden on the tenant to apply for protection. This requires the tenant to know the moratorium exists, find the correct paperwork, and figure out where to submit. Many have no clue how to get protected.
The current CDC eviction order allows local interpretation. Some places have strong local policies, and courts are closed. But in others, landlords can still file evictions, and judges hear evictions in person/online The filing itself is often a tactic to get the tenant to leave.
The current CDC order comes with an arbitrary expiration date, Jan 31. It was set to expire Dec 31 until Congress extended it in mid-Dec. There is no point assigning random end dates to these orders when we do not know when the pandemic will be "over." It makes no sense.
We need @JoeBiden @Transition46 to #EndEvictions on Day 1 . The action must go beyond the CDC order:
Automatic, NOT requiring tenant application
NO filings, summons, hearings, judgments, writs
NO arbitrary end date
Automatic, NOT requiring tenant applicationNO filings, summons, hearings, judgments, writsNO arbitrary end date
The stakes if @JoeBiden simply extends the existing CDC moratorium? In the next month+, landlords will evict 618 tenants in Jackson County, MO alone. Nationally, millions will be forced from their homes by judges/landlords continuing business as usual...while COVID numbers spike.
The stakes if @JoeBiden simply extends the existing CDC moratorium? Cassandra, Kansas City tenant whose landlord skirted around the CDC order, who already received an eviction judgment, who has COVID right now... will be forced to the streets.
Every eviction is an act of violence, especially now, during a deadly pandemic. @JoeBiden and @Transition46 have the opportunity to take a massive, lifesaving action on Day 1. It is absolutely urgent that the do it, and do it right. #EndEvictions. All of them.
Final thought: An eviction moratorium alone, even the best version, won't save us. At this point, some tenants are in thousands of dollars of rental debt. Congress needs to #CancelRent and rental debt immediately.
