APARTMENT ADVOCATE
NATIONAL APARTMENT ASSOCIATION /
NATIONAL MULTIFAMILY HOUSING COUNCIL
The State of Play: Eviction Policy
During COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it
the challenge of balancing public health with
America’s economic well-being. In the initial
stages of the nation’s virus response, federal,
state and local policymakers temporarily
suspended evictions to prevent renter
displacement and homelessness, with broader
intentions of limiting community spread.
Restrictions on courts or law enforcement
overlaid additional barriers to the eviction
process on top of these executive or legislative
actions. The result is a patchwork of eviction
restrictions that differ widely by jurisdiction.
Eviction policy is ever evolving and, as some
mandates begin to terminate, advocates are using
the momentum of the current environment to
extend these renter protections or make them
permanent.
Despite efforts in all 50 states to loosen
COVID-19 restrictions and allow phased
reopening measures, many state and local
governments are electing to extend eviction
moratoria – even if these protections are
not needed when Americans return to work.
In California alone, over 172 jurisdictions
temporarily suspended evictions. Nationwide,
22 states and at least 198 localities currently
have special eviction restrictions in place.
Some of these restrictions are contingent on
active state or local state of emergency orders.
Of those 22 states, 14 protect residents only in
nonpayment of rent cases, five limit protections
to cases of nonpayment for residents who can
show economic hardship due to COVID-19 and
10 prohibit housing providers from filing notices
to vacate.
At the onset of COVID-19, proponents
of eviction restrictions leaned heavily on
arguments such as “housing is health care” to
keep these protections in place. More recently,
two narratives have emerged that are driving the
most adverse policy responses at the state and
local level. The first narrative contends that an
avalanche of evictions is on the horizon. While it
is true that special COVID-19 renter protections
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34 | TRENDS AUGUST 2020 www.aamdhq.org