House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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Congress has failed to pass an extension to the federal eviction moratorium, which expires Saturday night, leaving millions of Americans to face the possibility of homelessness in coming weeks.

After a last-ditch scramble to extend the moratorium past July 31, lawmakers were unable to find enough votes to do so. House lawmakers went home to their districts for August recess and the Senate has returned to debating the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

House Democrats attempted to pass their bill through unanimous consent, which Republicans blocked on the floor. House Democratic leaders had spent the day trying to whip their caucus behind an extension, but ultimately didn’t have broad enough support among their ranks.

More than 3.6 million adults reported they were likely less than two months away from eviction as of June, including 2 million households with children, according to a U.S. Census Bureau survey.

Unless the White House reverses course and decides to pursue executive action, the moratorium will expire. So far, Biden officials have given no indication that they will do that.

“As the eviction moratorium deadline approaches tomorrow, I call on all state and local governments to take all possible steps to immediately disburse these funds given the imminent ending of the CDC eviction moratorium,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday evening. “There can be no excuse for any state or locality not accelerating funds to landlords and tenants that have been hurt during this pandemic. Every state and local government must get these funds out to ensure we prevent every eviction we can.”

Meanwhile, as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly, state and local governments have struggled to get out federally approved rent relief funds to tenants and landlords. Of the $46 billion allocated toward rental assistance between two COVID-19 relief bills, only $3 billion has been spent this year, according to data from the Treasury Dep.

Up until Thursday, Congress was under the impression that the White House would be extending the eviction moratorium on its own.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put in place a federal eviction moratorium last September and has extended it four times since. More recently the protections for renters have faced legal challenges. Just last month the Supreme Court allowed the moratorium to stay in place, but Justice Brett Kavanaugh indicated he would not support the moratorium, without congressional authorization, past July 31.

Citing Kavanaugh’s opinion from June, the White House said Thursday it would not extend the moratorium and punted the issue to Congress with only a three-day lead time to protect millions of vulnerable renters.

The effort in Congress seemed doomed from the start. Republicans in the Senate have been against the policy for some time, and the House had its own challenges getting a consensus in a razor-thin Democratic majority.

“The eviction moratorium is a bad idea,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) told reporters Friday, killing any prospect of a unanimously agreed-to extension in the Senate from the get-go.

And there was little to no time to negotiate. The White House’s statement sent lawmakers into a frenzy Thursday and Friday, with late-night letters encouraging Democrats to back an extension and long meetings between leaders.

All the while, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democrats were encouraging the White House to take action.

“We would like the CDC to expand the moratorium. That’s where it can be done,” Pelosi told reporters Friday morning.

Lawmakers and their staff were frustrated with the last-minute punt from the White House. Biden’s administration has known about the Supreme Court ruling for a month, and they were aware of the deadline. Congress, too, has had a full plate with a major bipartisan infrastructure package under negotiations and an even larger budget resolution in the works.

“It is still within their reach to extend the moratorium to prevent people from getting evicted on Monday,” a Democratic aide told HuffPost in the late afternoon Friday. “This was very last minute.”

Democrats also emphasized the need for states to get out rental assistance as fast as possible. State and local governments have been ineffective at getting funding out in an efficient manner, many plagued with shoddy programs and backlogs that may take weeks or months to resolve.

“The effort is to make sure that there’s more impetus on local communities and local and state governments to get the money out,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said. “They’re the ones not doing their jobs.”

Now, it seems, for millions of Americans, that is their only hope for any kind of housing protection.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/evictio ... b5a2336f60

I bet Jared Kushner is just giddy with delight.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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Years ago I had some involvement with rental units from the maintenance side. Glad I no longer rent and just plain giddy that I don't own any rental property.

Between covid and climate change, can't afford, burned down, washed away. So many have nowhere to go. Tents? Just don't touch the canvas over your cot while it's raining.

I hope landlords will be kind. Our government sure as hell isn't.
This isn't going well, is it?

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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My older son is a new lawyer, a member of The Bar this year and his first job, which is tough but makes us proud, is as a public interest attorney working to represent renters against landlords trying to scalp, scam, or evict them. His first choice was to be an environmental lawyer, but this it GREAT experience for ANY young lawyer because he's getting actual litigation experience, in court.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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From TTs link.
The effort in Congress seemed doomed from the start. Republicans in the Senate have been against the policy for some time, and the House had its own challenges getting a consensus in a razor-thin Democratic majority.

Democrats can't justify it.
In an encouraging burst of hiring, America’s employers added 850,000 jobs in June, well above the average of the previous three months and a sign that companies may be having an easier time finding enough workers to fill open jobs.

Friday’s report from the Labor Department was the latest evidence that the reopening of the economy is propelling a powerful rebound from the pandemic recession. Restaurant traffic across the country is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, and more people are shopping, traveling and attending sports and entertainment events. The number of people flying each day has regained about 80% of its pre-COVID-19 levels. And Americans’ confidence in the economic outlook has nearly fully recovered.

The report also suggested that American workers are enjoying an upper hand in the job market as companies, desperate to staff up in a surging economy, dangle higher wages. In June, average hourly pay rose a solid 3.6% compared with a year ago — faster than the pre-pandemic annual pace. In addition, a rising proportion of newly hired workers are gaining full-time work, as the number of part-time workers who would prefer full-time jobs tumbled — a healthy sign.
https://apnews.com/article/jobs-report- ... c2a086cbfchttps://apnews.com/article/jobs-report- ... c2a086cbfc
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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papajim2jordan wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:30 pm Years ago I had some involvement with rental units from the maintenance side. Glad I no longer rent and just plain giddy that I don't own any rental property.

Between covid and climate change, can't afford, burned down, washed away. So many have nowhere to go. Tents? Just don't touch the canvas over your cot while it's raining.

I hope landlords will be kind. Our government sure as hell isn't.
The other side of the coin is: "can we hope that mortgage companies and banks will be kind to small landlords who miss payments?" Rental property isn't a cash cow for some people... it's a means to survive.

A moratorium on evictions with no assistance for mom and pop landlords is a recipe for disaster, because the rental properties will get swooped up by venture capitalists when they go into foreclosure. That will lead to more corporate ownership over rental properties and less rights for renters.

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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NegativeApproach wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 3:06 pm
papajim2jordan wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:30 pm Years ago I had some involvement with rental units from the maintenance side. Glad I no longer rent and just plain giddy that I don't own any rental property.

Between covid and climate change, can't afford, burned down, washed away. So many have nowhere to go. Tents? Just don't touch the canvas over your cot while it's raining.

I hope landlords will be kind. Our government sure as hell isn't.
The other side of the coin is: "can we hope that mortgage companies and banks will be kind to small landlords who miss payments?" Rental property isn't a cash cow for some people... it's a means to survive.

A moratorium on evictions with no assistance for mom and pop landlords is a recipe for disaster, because the rental properties will get swooped up by venture capitalists when they go into foreclosure. That will lead to more corporate ownership over rental properties and less rights for renters.

Agree about the venture capitalists, the town next to mine borders federal recreational lands and investors with big bucks have bought up properties left and right there. They're now short term rentals like Air BnB. Demand got so high that contractors are building studios under 1000 sq ft selling for hundreds of thousands.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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NegativeApproach wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 3:06 pm
papajim2jordan wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:30 pm Years ago I had some involvement with rental units from the maintenance side. Glad I no longer rent and just plain giddy that I don't own any rental property.

Between covid and climate change, can't afford, burned down, washed away. So many have nowhere to go. Tents? Just don't touch the canvas over your cot while it's raining.

I hope landlords will be kind. Our government sure as hell isn't.
The other side of the coin is: "can we hope that mortgage companies and banks will be kind to small landlords who miss payments?" Rental property isn't a cash cow for some people... it's a means to survive.

A moratorium on evictions with no assistance for mom and pop landlords is a recipe for disaster, because the rental properties will get swooped up by venture capitalists when they go into foreclosure. That will lead to more corporate ownership over rental properties and less rights for renters.
Everyone needs to share in the pain including banks.
Image
Image

"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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sikacz wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 6:15 pm
NegativeApproach wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 3:06 pm
papajim2jordan wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:30 pm Years ago I had some involvement with rental units from the maintenance side. Glad I no longer rent and just plain giddy that I don't own any rental property.

Between covid and climate change, can't afford, burned down, washed away. So many have nowhere to go. Tents? Just don't touch the canvas over your cot while it's raining.

I hope landlords will be kind. Our government sure as hell isn't.
The other side of the coin is: "can we hope that mortgage companies and banks will be kind to small landlords who miss payments?" Rental property isn't a cash cow for some people... it's a means to survive.

A moratorium on evictions with no assistance for mom and pop landlords is a recipe for disaster, because the rental properties will get swooped up by venture capitalists when they go into foreclosure. That will lead to more corporate ownership over rental properties and less rights for renters.
Everyone needs to share in the pain including banks.
We all know that the banks will get bailed out before anyone else does.

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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Trillions for corporations then "We can't afford it!" for infrastructure and the poor.
Yet, as Paul Krugman pointed out, everything done to help poor and working class people, the ReROTlicans said would ruin the economy, has done just the opposite and the economy has bounced back with a vengeance.
Proof of Concept that putting the money in the people's hands is what makes the economy sing!
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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YankeeTarheel wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 8:08 pm Trillions for corporations then "We can't afford it!" for infrastructure and the poor.
Yet, as Paul Krugman pointed out, everything done to help poor and working class people, the ReROTlicans said would ruin the economy, has done just the opposite and the economy has bounced back with a vengeance.
Proof of Concept that putting the money in the people's hands is what makes the economy sing!
Of course it does make for a good economy. But ask any Repug and they will keep telling you the same BS that Ronnie Raygun spouted about the trickle down Laffer Curve. They just won’t give up and face reality.

They still believe Karl Rove.
The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' [...] 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do'.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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Just for reference: Trickle-Down and the Laffer Curve are TOTALLY separate concepts.

All the trickles down is, of course, the tax burden, not prosperity.

The Laffer Curve is, ironically, true, but is, actually trivial. Republicans have twisted it to mean that all tax cuts for business are good, when all the curve says is that there is some rate of taxation, above which any additional taxation will be a disincentive, decreasing revenue. But there's only ONE piece of empirical data and that is the JFK/LBJ tax cut that showed the turning point was below the 90% maximum rate at the time. It was dropped to 70% and revenue increased, but that doesn't mean 70% was either above over below the turning point. Every other tax cut has DECREASED revenue, meaning that the initial Reagan cut was BELOW that turning point.

That turning point tax rate, still unknown, is the key to viability of the Laffer Curve.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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YT the problem with the Laffer Curve is the Repugs only wanted to cut taxes on the Wealthy and big businesses and to hell with the Middle Class and the working poor.
As for the Trickle-Down and the Laffer Curve are TOTALLY separate concepts they Raygun Repugs tried selling both at the same time. Cutting Taxes on Businesses had the idea the business would take the extra profit and reinvest in the business thereby increasing jobs and wages for the workers. Well we saw how that worked out they just ether pocketed the extra profits as executive bonuses or bought back their stock to increase the value of the stock owned by the executives, the wealthy and investment companies. The other idea on the tax cuts would be the wealthy would buy more goods and spend more thus stimulating the economy causing wages to rise. The wealthy bought more expensive goods and spent some, mostly they reinvested their new wealth, and the wages didn't rise.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: House Skips Town After Failing To Extend Eviction Moratorium

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Trade groups representing property owners late Wednesday sued to block a new federal eviction moratorium that President Joe Biden himself warned this week was on shaky legal ground.

The Alabama and Georgia chapters of the National Association of Realtors filed a motion in federal court to vacate the ban that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered Tuesday. The same groups led a legal challenge against the prior federal eviction moratorium that expired Saturday — a lawsuit that prompted the Supreme Court to cast doubt on the CDC's authority.

The real estate groups — which have warned that their members are facing substantial financial losses from the moratorium — said in a legal filing that the CDC caved to a "tidal wave of political pressure" from outraged Democrats when it revived the eviction ban despite clear warnings from judges who said the agency lacked the power to enforce it.

“The CDC appears to have acted in bad faith,” the groups said.

The new legal challenge will fuel further chaos around the federal government's safety net for renters still struggling to pay bills during the pandemic. It will likely set off a race against time for policymakers to find ways to accelerate the release of $46.5 billion in rental aid, which was designed to backstop renters and make landlords whole but has faced severe state and local bottlenecks.

Landlords are taking on the Biden administration again after warning that they lost billions of dollars each month under the original ban, which the CDC first implemented in September. The revamped moratorium the agency imposed this week is targeted at areas with high levels of Covid-19, currently about 80 percent of counties.

A coalition of 11 housing industry groups — including the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Home Builders — said in a statement Wednesday evening that they opposed the new ban and that “the administration itself noted it lacks the legal authority for a more targeted eviction moratorium.”

"About half of all housing providers are mom-and-pop operators," National Association of Realtors President Charlie Oppler said. "Without rental income, they cannot pay their own bills or maintain their properties."
The administration initially said its hands were tied by the June Supreme Court opinion and tried to put the responsibility on Congress to extend the moratorium. But House Democrats could not muster the votes to pass an extension before leaving for August recess. The legislation was also expected to be blocked by Senate Republicans.
In response to a request for emergency intervention from the trade associations, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision on June 29 allowed the moratorium to continue until its expiration last Saturday. But Justice Brett Kavanaugh — who had joined the liberals on the court to uphold the ban — warned in his concurring opinion that the CDC had gone beyond its legal power and that the imminent expiration was what motivated him to let it stand temporarily.

“In my view, clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation) would be necessary for the CDC to extend the moratorium past July 31,” Kavanaugh wrote, noting that he agreed with the lower court that the CDC had “exceeded its existing statutory authority” by issuing the ban.
https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2021/ ... ban-502513
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

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