Rental Eviction Moratorium Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6347 To establish a moratorium on evictions from rental dwelling units during the public health emergency relating to coronavirus, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2020 Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois (for himself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. RYAN, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. POCAN, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. SOTO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. NOR- TON, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. BEYER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. MENG, Mr. VARGAS, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. NAD- LER, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mr. HAS- TINGS, Ms. OMAR, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. RUSH, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. KEN- NEDY, and Ms. GARCIA of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish a moratorium on evictions from rental dwelling units during the public health emergency relating to coronavirus, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rental Eviction Mora- 4 torium Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Apr 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6347.IH H6347 PAMTMANN on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6347 IH SEC. 2. TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON EVICTION FILINGS. 1 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.—The Congress finds 2 that— 3 (1) according to the 2018 American Community 4 Survey, 36 percent of households in the United 5 States—more than 43 million households—are rent- 6 ers; 7 (2) in 2019 alone, renters in the United States 8 paid $512 billion in rent; 9 (3) according to the Joint Center for Housing 10 Studies of Harvard University, 20.8 million renters 11 in the United States spent more than 30 percent of 12 their incomes on housing in 2018 and 10.9 million 13 renters spent more than 50 percent of their incomes 14 on housing in the same year; 15 (4) Moody’s Analytics estimates that 27 million 16 jobs in the U.S. economy are at high risk because 17 of COVID-19; 18 (5) the impacts of the spread of COVID-19, 19 which is now considered a global pandemic, are ex- 20 pected to negatively impact the incomes of poten- 21 tially millions of renter households, making it dif- 22 ficult for them to pay their rent on time; and 23 (6) evictions in the current environment would 24 increase homelessness and housing instability which 25 would be counterproductive towards the public 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Apr 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6347.IH H6347 PAMTMANN on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6347 IH health goals of keeping individuals in their homes to 1 the greatest extent possible. 2 (b) MORATORIUM.—During the period beginning on 3 the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on the 4 date described in paragraph (1) of subsection (d), the les- 5 sor of a covered dwelling may not make, or cause to be 6 made, any filing with the court of jurisdiction to initiate 7 a legal action to recover possession of the covered dwelling 8 from the tenant regardless of cause, except when a tenant 9 perpetrates a serious criminal act that threatens the 10 health, life, or safety of other tenants or staff of the prop- 11 erty in which the covered dwelling is located. 12 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 13 following definitions shall apply: 14 (1) COVERED DWELLING.—The term ‘‘covered 15 dwelling’’ means a dwelling that is occupied by a 16 tenant— 17 (A) pursuant to a residential lease; or 18 (B) without a lease or with a lease ter- 19 minable at will under State law. 20 (2) DWELLING.—The term ‘‘dwelling’’ has the 21 meaning given such term in section 802 of the Fair 22 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3602) and includes houses 23 and dwellings described in section 803(b) of such 24 Act (42 U.S.C. 3603(b)). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Apr 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6347.IH H6347 PAMTMANN on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6347 IH (d) SUNSET.— 1 (1) SUNSET DATE.—The date described in this 2 paragraph is the date of the expiration of the 6- 3 month period that begins upon the termination by 4 the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the 5 emergency declared on March 13, 2020, by the 6 President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re- 7 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 8 et seq.) relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 9 (COVID-19) pandemic. 10 (2) NOTICE TO VACATE AFTER SUNSET 11 DATE.—After the date described in paragraph (1), 12 the lessor of a covered dwelling may not require the 13 tenant to vacate the covered dwelling before the ex- 14 piration of the 30-day period that begins upon the 15 provision by the lessor to the tenant, after the date 16 described in paragraph (1), of a notice to vacate the 17 covered dwelling. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Apr 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6347.IH H6347 PAMTMANN on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS