Pres. Joe Biden Shifts Burden to States to Help Renters With COVID Funds as White House Scrambles to Extend Eviction Moratorium

President Joe Biden asked states to use the COVID funds to help renters and homeowners across the U.S. after the eviction moratorium expired last Saturday.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the president's call in a statement on Monday, August 2, New York Post reported.

Psaki said Joe Biden was referring to the $46.5 billion in unspent rental assistance included in the COVID relief packages passed by Congress in December and enacted by President Joe Biden last March.

Joe Biden wanted all states and cities to enact their own eviction moratoriums for at least two months.

The White House press secretary noted that the budget would protect millions of American renters in debt and possibly facing eviction amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"This assistance provides the funding to pay landlords current and back rent so tenants can remain in their homes or apartments, not be evicted," said Jen Psaki.

She noted that there was no excuse for any state or locality "not to promptly deploy the resources that Congress appropriated" to cater to the needs of Americans.

Jen Psaki said some states and localities were able to release the funds efficiently among tenants and landlords. However, many states and cities across the U.S. were slow when it comes to distributing the said funds.

"No one in America should be evicted when federal funds are available, in the hands of state and local government, to pay back rent due," Psaki noted.

Joe Biden Urges Local Courts, Departments, and Landlords

Jen Psaki disclosed that they had already encouraged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last Sunday, August 1, to extend the eviction moratorium by using executive action.

However, the statement noted that CDC Director Rochelle Walensky ​has​ yet to find legal authority for a new eviction moratorium​.

The Guardian reported that "mass evictions" could worsen the spread of the Delta COVID variant. The Census Bureau shares that roughly 1.4 million renters told them that they could be evicted in the next few months.

However, Jen Psaki noted that Joe Biden has already called on different sectors to help in halting and preventing the evictions of Americans.

Joe Biden urged the landlords to hold off for 30 days instead of evicting the tenants and seek federal emergency rental assistance to be compensated.

The president also directed state and local courts to follow the Justice Department's advice to pause the eviction proceedings until tenants and landlords had access to the Emergency Rental Assistance.

Joe Biden also urged utility providers to avoid cutting off services for those behind payments by also accessing emergency rental aid.

"The administration remains deeply committed to doing everything in its power to keep people safely and securely housed, which is essential to the health, well-being, and dignity of us all," Psaki said.

Calls on the Extension of Eviction Moratorium

Joe Biden and his administration were placed under pressure when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Congress members called for the extension of the eviction moratorium.

Pelosi said it's "unfathomable" that around 3.6 million renters could be evicted. Meanwhile, other Democrats, such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, slammed the Biden administration as they failed to extend the ban.

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Written By: Joshua Summers

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