The Biden administration announced a 60-day eviction ban extension. The new order is more limited than the old ban – it covers COVID hot spots only – but that still includes an estimated 90% of U.S. renters and seemingly all of Fla., which has seen rising numbers of cases in the past few weeks.

The U.S. ban on evictions expired on July 31, but the Biden administration, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announced a new 60-day extension. The ban now continues until Oct. 3, 2021.

The new ban focuses on COVID-19 infection levels by area, but it reportedly includes about 90% of U.S. renters, including all – or almost all – Florida renters.

The full order, which is posted on the CDC’s website, says the CDC is temporarily halting evictions “in order to respond to recent, unexpected developments in the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the rise of the delta variant.”

“The emergence of the delta variant has led to a rapid acceleration of community transmission in the United States, putting more Americans at increased risk, especially if they are unvaccinated,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement accompanying the order. “It is imperative that public health authorities act quickly to mitigate such an increase of evictions, which could increase the likelihood of new spikes in SARS-CoV-2 transmission.”

For tenants to be protected by the order, they must complete and sign a declaration with the elements listed for a “covered person” to their landlord. CDC has offered a standardized declaration form on its website, but it has not been updated yet for the latest eviction ban extension.

The Supreme Court ruled against the eviction ban that ended on July 31, 2021, but the CDC says it has legal authority to invoke a new ban for areas with substantial increases in COVID-19 infections. At a news conference, President Biden suggested that many constitutional scholars disagree with that interpretation, but some do not.

Source: Florida Realtors®