In an open letter to the Biden administration, 12 groups, including the National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Home Builders, and the National Apartment Association, pointed to success in fighting the pandemic with vaccinations, progress in re-opening the economy, and the availability of government rental assistance as reasons to let the moratorium finally end. The ban doesn’t preclude landlords from filing for evictions in court, but does forbid them from physically removing tenants suffering financial hardship because of the pandemic. The ban is also being disputed legally, with the fight now reaching the Supreme Court. Plaintiff property managers have argued it’s an example of unconstitutional government overreach, and won an earlier federal court ruling that’s since been temporarily deferred pending appeal. Despite improvement in the economy, more than 13% of adults in renting households reported not being caught up on their rent in the latest Household Pulse Survey from the Census, taken in May—down only slightly from 16% who said the same in September, when the ban was first put in place.
