Pres. Trump gives CDC authority to stop evictions for renters through 2020

(NBC) The White House announced Tuesday that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control plans to issue a nationwide order temporarily blocking millions of U.S. renters from being evicted through December 31.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday giving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention broad authority to temporarily halt evictions during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The move applies to individual renters who expect to earn under $99,000 this year, or $198,000 for joint filers.

“I want to make it unmistakably clear that I’m protecting people from evictions,” Trump said in a statement on Tuesday.

The federal eviction moratorium and various local and state measures protecting tenants from eviction have expired or will soon, which has raised fears among housing experts and tenant unions about waves of evictions. And some landlords have already begun eviction proceedings in some states.

“The rent is due today, but too many families won’t be able to make payments through no fault of their own— pushing them deeper into debt and the prospect of being thrown out of their homes,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement on Tuesday. “Right now, over 40 million Americans are at risk of eviction.”

White House deputy press secretary Brian Morgenstern said in a call with reporters on Tuesday that the order the president signed Tuesday will help millions of Americans stay in their homes.

“Today’s announcement means that people struggling to pay rent due to the coronavirus will not have to worry about being evicted and risk further spreading, spreading of, or exposure to the disease due to economic hardship,” he said. “The administration has also made funds available to alleviate any economic impact to tenants, landlords, and property owners.”

The funds include billions allocated from the massive $2 trillion CARES Act Congress passed earlier this year as well as other government agencies, such as the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development, the White House said.

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