CDC Moratorium Extension – June 30, 2021

The Federal Government, through the Center for Disease Control (CDC), has extended the temporary ban on Landlords taking action against residential Tenants for nonpayment of any charges through June 30, 2021. As a federal regulation, this applies in all states, subject to state law restrictions.

As a reminder, the CDC Moratorium prohibits Landlords from evicting any “covered persons” for nonpayment during the covered period (September 4, 2020 through June 30, 2021). A “covered person” is a residential Tenant who provides their Landlord with a declaration containing several statements. The contents of the declaration are more particularly described in a previous communication dated September 4, 2020 titled CDC Moratorium (linked here).

In addition to extending the effective period of the prior orders, the new Order makes several modifications. Below are the relevant modifications:

CDC modified the “Applicability” section to add the following points:

• A previously signed declaration remains valid, and covered persons do not need to submit a new declaration based on the extension.
• Evictions for nonpayment of rent initiated prior to September 4, 2020, but not yet completed, are subject to this Order.
• Covered persons may not be evicted on the sole basis that they are trespassing where the underlying activity is a covered person remaining in a residential property despite nonpayment of rent.
• Individuals who have, been exposed to or might have COVID-19 and take reasonable precautions to not spread the disease should not be evicted on the grounds that they pose a health or safety threat to other residents.

CDC added a new section titled “Declaration Forms” with the following points:

• To qualify as a covered person eligible for the protections of the Order, a tenant, lessee, or resident of a residential property must provide a completed and signed copy of a declaration with the elements listed in the definition of “Covered Person” (see definitions in linked previous article) to their landlord, owner of the residential property where they live, or other person who has a right to have them evicted or removed.
• Tenants, lessees, or residents of a residential property may use any written document in place of the Declaration Form if it includes the required information as in the Form, is signed, and includes a perjury statement.
• Tenants, lessees, or residents of a residential property can use a form translated into other Languages.

In some circumstances, it may be appropriate for one member of the residence to provide an executed declaration on behalf of the other adult residents who are party to the lease, rental agreement, or housing contract.

Oregon and Washington State

Given the extension to the CDC Moratorium, Landlords are encouraged to continue to maintain policies and safeguards to ensure that no prohibited action is taken if a Landlord receives a declaration or any other statement made under penalty of perjury that implicates an inability to pay rent or the protections of the CDC Moratorium.

This article is not intended as legal advice. Please obtain advice of a landlord/tenant law attorney for any policy change or decisions regarding residential and commercial Landlord-Tenant matters.