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Washington, D.C. — Without further action, the national eviction moratorium will expire this weekend, leaving millions of people vulnerable to losing their homes.
In response to this looming humanitarian crisis, Jaboa Lake, senior policy analyst for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
“The federal eviction moratoriums and other tenant protections have been a lifeline throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the end to these protections is approaching rapidly. The federal moratorium on evictions is set to end in just two days, on July 31, at a time when 1 in 6 renters report being behind on payments.
“These rollbacks of lifesaving protections are premature and will lead to the worst eviction crisis in U.S. history. Renter protections are especially needed as we continue to see lower than necessary vaccination rates and the spread of coronavirus variants. We know that keeping people housed and preventing evictions reduces the spread of COVID-19, and ending the moratorium will lead to more spread and ultimately more deaths.
“Historically, evictions have hit communities of color the hardest. Recent results from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey show that renters of color are more likely to be behind on rent, and disabled renters expect to face eviction at rates as high as twice as much compared with all renters. Without continued protections, people of color and people with disabilities will continue to be disproportionately harmed by the ongoing pandemic.
“We are still in the middle of a pandemic, and many communities have not even begun to ‘recover.’ The federal government has shown that it can take swift action to prevent evictions, and it must continue to provide these protections. In this moment, we have seen that housing truly is health care, and keeping people housed saves lives
