Tuesday Tip: Eviction Moratorium, President’s Executive Order

Posted On: August 25, 2020

Vickie discusses the Eviction Moratorium that ended on July 24th, and how the President’s Executive Order does NOT extend it.

The Executive Order, issued on August 8th, calls on the secretary of Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, and the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson to identify “any and all available federal funds” to provide temporary rental assistance to those who are facing financial turmoil due to COVID-19. In other words, the executive order calls on department leaders to ASSESS THE NEED AND AVAILABILITY of federal funding, NOT TO PROVIDE federal funding or EXTEND the Eviction Moratorium.

When the moratorium ended, owners/agents were to give a 30-day notice to residents before they could evict. That 30-day notice would’ve ended August 23rd.

As an alternative to evicting, HUD encourages owners/agents to work with their residents by putting in place repayment agreements. HUD offers COVID-19 Tenant Guidance: Rent Repayment Plans to help owners work with residents who are behind. This idea can help properties keep vacancies down.

HUD also offers Tools for Landlords with Tenants Impacted by COVID-19. This helps landlords engage with their residents to help improve retention and rent repayment.

If the owners/agents or residents choose NOT to participate in a repayment agreement, owners/agents will need to make sure that they follow the “Termination of Tenancy” procedures. This can be found in Chapter 8, Paragraph 8-13 B. of the HUD 4350.3 Handbook.

We have received several calls this month about property management issuing the 30-day notice but NOT adhering to the “Termination of Tenancy” procedures in the Handbook. REMEMBER, the moratorium eliminated late fees. Therefore, you CANNOT add late fees into the amount owed by the resident, only rental payments.

Check out this tip we released just before the ending of the moratorium on July 24th: Tuesday Tip: Eviction Moratorium Ending.