The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) nationwide temporary residential eviction moratorium has been extended, effective January 31, 2021, through March 31, 2021 by virtue of 86 Fed. Reg. 8020 (the Order). The original temporary eviction moratorium, which was published on September 4, 2020, expired on January 31, 2021.

In addition to extending the eviction moratorium to March 31, 2021, the Order now applies to American Samoa. When the original order was issued in September 2020, American Samoa had no reported cases of COVID-19, however, cases have since been reported there.

The Order also includes newly available modeling projections and observational data from COVID-19 incidence comparisons across states that have implemented and lifted eviction moratoria. Such projections and data indicate that evictions substantially contribute to the interstate spread and transmission of COVID-19.¹ Extensive COVID-19 outbreaks have been identified in homeless shelters across the country. ² Research suggests that those who would be evicted and become homeless include many who are predisposed to developing severe illness from COVID-19.³

Other than the modeling projections and the extension of the moratorium through March 31, 2021, and to American Samoa, the moratorium is the same as the one issued in September.

The moratorium does not apply in any state, local, territorial, or tribal area with a residential eviction moratorium providing the same or greater level of public-health protection than the requirements listed in the Order, nor does it, in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 264(e), preclude state, local, territorial, and tribal authorities from imposing additional, and more restrictive, requirements to provide greater public-health protection.

Under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. §§ 3559, 3571; 42 U.S.C. §§ 243, 268, 271; and 42 C.F.R. 70.18, the eviction moratorium will be enforced by federal authorities and cooperating state and local authorities. Violations of the Order will be prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The CDC has published FAQ’s about the extended moratorium.

1. Based on a review of these mathematical models, researchers estimated that, depending on the rates of eviction and infection, anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 excess cases per million population could be attributed to evictions. Researchers analyzing observational data estimated that more than 433,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 10,000 deaths could be attributed to lifting state moratoria. Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions to Prevent the Further Spread of COVID-19, 86 Fed. Reg. 8020, 8022 (footnotes omitted). [↩]
2. Id. at 8023 (footnote omitted). [↩]
3. Id. at 8024. [↩]