March 29, 2021

Toomey on Eviction Moratorium Extension: Lacks Legal Basis and Economic Justification

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) released the following statement after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended the national eviction moratorium through June 30, 2021.


“As I said when the Trump administration created it, an eviction moratorium lacks both a legal basis and an economic justification. Moreover, the entire purpose for replacing lost income with direct rental assistance, thousands of dollars in stimulus checks, and unemployment compensation that pays more than work itself, was so people could pay their bills.


“There are also unintended consequences that this eviction moratorium may cause, including higher rents and fewer low to moderate income housing options overall. Landlords must now account for the possibility that moratoriums like this can occur at any time in the future. This could lead to landlords raising rent costs to help offset future losses and to some abandoning investing in residential housing completely.


“Instead of extending the CDC moratorium, the Biden administration should be focused on making the rental assistance program more workable.”


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