President Joe Biden’s decision to bypass Congress and extend the moratorium on evictions for two more months may be unconstitutional, but as a practical matter, keeping it in place through September is reasonable. It will give states and localities time to distribute unspent pandemic relief funds to renters.
Then it should expire on Oct. 3, as scheduled.
When COVID-19 struck in the spring of 2020 and governors started locking down their states, Congress took the unprecedented step of prohibiting properties receiving federal financial assistance or with government-backed financing from evicting tenants. In September 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed an even more sweeping nationwide ban on evictions.
The reason given at the time for these extraordinary interventions was to slow the pandemic’s spread by avoiding the increase in homelessness and overcrowded housing that would result.
This was a questionable use of federal power, given that state and local governments are responsible for laws regulating housing. And it was a controversial use of government power, period, effectively overriding binding contracts between landlords and tenants.