There’s a new federal eviction moratorium. Here’s what it means for Muscogee County
A new federal eviction moratorium targeted to areas with high community transmission of COVID-19, which includes most of Georgia, was announced Tuesday to provide renters more time to find financial relief.
State rental relief programs like the Georgia Rental Assistance Program,have been slow to process applications, resulting in lags in distributing the $552 million allocated, according to local advocates.
Issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the new order is in response to “unexpected developments in the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the rise of the Delta variant.” It is set to end on Oct. 3.
The CDC said the order is meant to target specific areas of the country where increasing cases could be exacerbated by mass evictions. According to the CDC’s COVID Data tracker, Muscogee County is considered to have high community transmission.
How to utilize the moratorium
The legality of the CDC issuing a ban on evictions came before the Supreme Court, which upheld it, last month. However, Katie Byers, the director of St. Anne Community Outreach, said ultimately, it will be up to the judge whether to accept the federal hold.
“So, we’re not sure yet how that’s going to be applied,” Byers said. “I imagine it’s going to be a case by case basis.”
Regulatory agencies like the CDC were deemed to have the power to issue laws and regulations and enforce them, Muscogee County Municipal Court Judge and Chief Magistrate Steven D. Smith said. Previous federal rulings from lawsuits challenging the CDC moratorium have been conflicting and unclear, he said, so he will honor the CDC moratorium until there is a definitive ruling saying it is not valid.
Smith reiterated that the moratorium may only be used for the reason of non-payment of rent. He said if a landlord is evicting a tenant because they broke the lease in another way, he would issue a writ of possession.
To utilize the CDC moratorium, renters must provide their landlord with a declaration indicating that:
They have used their best efforts to obtain all available government assistance.
They earned no more that $99,000 (or $198,000 if filing jointly) in 2020, or expect to earn no more than that amount in 2021.
They are unable to pay the full rent due to a substantial loss of income, hours of work or wages, were laid off, or have extraordinary out-of-pocket medical expenses.
They are using their best effort to make partial rent payments as circumstances may permit.
Eviction would likely result in their being homeless or living in close quarters in a shared living setting.
Reside in a county experiencing substantial or high rates of community transmission as defined by the CDC.
The most important thing for those facing eviction to do is to complete the paperwork and answer any eviction that they receive, Byers said.
“A lot of families think because they have filled out the paperwork for the moratorium, that they don’t have to go and appear in court,” she said. “But they do need to go ahead and answer it. If they don’t answer it, then they can be evicted within seven days.”
Local organizations trying to help
St. Anne expected phones to be ringing off the hook when the last moratorium expired, Byers said. They didn’t.
“I really think that was because people were just waiting for the other shoe to drop,” she said. “Because, obviously, things hadn’t been filed yet — they couldn’t be filed until Monday.”
Byers said eviction filings have slowed in the last couple of days while some landlords waited to see what might happen after the moratorium deadline. She said the trickle down effect helped give them more time to figure out how to keep families housed and landlords paid.
The grant money St. Anne received for rental assistance from the Columbus Consolidated Government was spent very quickly. She said the program was just awarded more money, so they anticipate being able to help more families.
Millions of dollars in funding is available for rental assistance. The biggest distributor of funds in Georgia is the Georgia Rental Assistance Program. Renters and landlords can receive up to 12 months of payment relief. More information about applying can be found at georgiarentalassistance.ga.gov.
Progress has been slow, Byers said, despite efforts by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to speed up the process.
“What I’ve been told is many people aren’t even applying,” Smith said. “And many other people are applying, but they’ve not ruled on their request yet.”
This is why the CDC extended the moratorium for another two months, he said, to give people and agencies more time to process the clients.
However, despite the kinks in the rental assistance program, Byers is hopeful about the new moratorium. She said the ultimate goal is to make sure families can stay in their housing and that landlords receive the money they have been waiting for.
“At some point landlords need to get paid,” she said. “They need those funds to pay their bills.”
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
