WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration has written to local officials urging that they block unnecessary residential evictions, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ended a federal moratorium aimed at keeping people housed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A copy of the letter was seen by Reuters on Friday.
“Our bottom line is this: No one should be evicted before they have the chance to apply for rental assistance, and no eviction should move forward until that application has been processed,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Housing Secretary Marcia Fudge and Attorney General Merrick Garland wrote to state governors, mayors and others.
On Thursday, the nation’s top court granted a request by a coalition of landlords and real estate trade groups to lift the moratorium by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was to have run until Oct. 3, saying it was up to Congress to act.
Lawmakers so far have not passed any bills directly addressing evictions, but U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday said her chamber “is assessing possible legislative remedies.”
House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters is also “examining the most effective way to expedite the flow of funding of rental assistance by states and localities,” Pelosi wrote in a separate letter to Democratic House members.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Susan Cornwell; writing by Susan Heavey; editing by Tim Ahmann and Leslie Adler)
