Pressure Put on RI General Assembly After Federal Court Decision Strikes Down Eviction Moratorium

Pressure Put on RI General Assembly After Federal Court Decision Strikes Down Eviction Moratorium

A decision on Wednesday by a federal court judge threw out the national eviction moratorium claiming it was legally unsupportable.

Nationally, one in seven renters is behind in their payments and is now vulnerable to eviction.

One of RI’s top housing experts says it is critical for RI’s legislature to immediately pass moratorium legislation.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, citing public health grounds, had extended the moratorium through June for tenants who have fallen behind on their rent during the pandemic. 

The moratorium originated from an executive order signed by then-President Donald Trump in September.

Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that while it was the role of the branches of government to address the pandemic, current federal law on public health didn’t give the CDC broad authority to impose the moratorium.

Friedrich's decision is being appealed by the Biden administration.

 

Need to Act in Rhode Island

Brenda Clement, the executive director of HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University, says that it is critical for the RI General Assembly to take action or see tens of thousands of RI homeless.

“While we are still in the midst of a public health crisis, it is very concerning that the Federal Court has ruled to strike down the CDC moratorium.   While this decision is not final and will be appealed, it creates more urgency for the RI General Assembly to enact a statewide moratorium on evictions so that landlords and tenants can utilize the Federal rental assistance funds now available in our state,” said Clement.

“Landlords/ property owners obviously need the rental income to maintain their buildings but wide-scale evictions of tenants could set back our efforts to control Covid-19 considerably,” she added. 

State Representative Grace Diaz (District-11 in Providence) has introduced H-5309 imposes a moratorium on non-essential evictions/mortgage foreclosures during a state of emergency declared by the governor relating to residential property and establishes an eviction diversion program to resolve landlord-tenant eviction disputes.

That legislation is pending in House Judiciary.