NAA and Coalition Letter to Senate Urging Support of S.3755

Dear Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell:

The undersigned national associations represent for-profit and non-profit owners, operators, developers, lenders and property managers and housing cooperatives involved in the provision of rental housing, both affordable and conventional. We are writing to bring attention to lingering operational challenges that the rental housing industry is experiencing from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.

As background, the CARES Act established a temporary 120-day moratorium on evictions due to nonpayment of rent, applicable to federally-backed and federally-assisted housing. This section of the CARES Act also instituted what should have been a temporary notice procedure, requiring housing providers to notify covered residents 30 days before filing for eviction after the moratorium ended on July 24, 2020. This temporary federal “notice-to-vacate” requirement remains a hotly contested issue in courts today, long after the moratorium and the federal COVID-19 public health emergency has ended. It adds complexity and confusion to the eviction process established by states and further delays the start of the eviction process for housing providers who have been waiting to have their cases heard in court while rent remains unpaid.

Backlogs in the courts are stretching from weeks or months to more than a year in some jurisdictions. Meanwhile, owners and managers face even more lost rent while they wait. This is particularly financially challenging for operators of subsidized housing and mom and pop landlords and ultimately hurts the tens of millions of Americans who work in the industry as well as the nation’s renters. For professional owners and operators of rental housing, eviction is a last resort. Their businesses always do better when units are occupied and when they can fully meet their obligations to their residents, employees, creditors and the communities that they serve.

Throughout the pandemic, rental housing professionals have worked to both help our residents resolve their hardships and to advance policies to provide renters with essential resources to meet their housing needs. Now that Congress and the President have terminated the federal COVID-19 public health emergency, we urge all Senators to end the CARES Act 30-day notice-to-vacate by cosponsoring S. 3755, the Respect State Housing Laws Act, and passing this important piece of legislation into law. It is time to return
eviction policy back to the state and local level. We stand ready to work with you to facilitate passage of this important piece of legislation.

Sincerely,

Council for Affordable and Rural Housing

Institute of Real Estate Management

Manufactured Housing Institute

National Affordable Housing Management Association

National Apartment Association

National Association of Home Builders

National Association of Housing Cooperatives

National Association of Realtors

National Association of Residential Property Managers

National Leased Housing Association

National Multifamily Housing Council

CC: U.S. Senate

View this letter as a PDF