BACKGROUND PRESS CALL
BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS
ON THE TEMPORARY HALT IN RESIDENTIAL EVICTIONS
TO ASSIST THOSE IMPACTED BY COVID-19
Via Teleconference
September 1, 2020
5:04 P.M. EDT
MS. LEAVITT: Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining today’s briefing on the Trump administration’s order to temporarily halt evictions to stop the spread of COVID-19.
This briefing will be conducted by several senior administration officials, including [senior administration officials], [senior administration official], [senior administration official], [senior administration official], and Brian Morgenstern, the Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary.
I'm first going to turn it over to Brian who has a couple of on-the-record quotes for you. The remainder of the call is going to be on background to “senior administration officials.” They will all go around and give some opening statements, and then we will open it up for Q&A.
Brian.
MR. MORGENSTERN: Thank you, Karoline. And thank you, everybody, for joining. So the following quote is on the record, attributable to me. Again, it’s Brian Morgenstern, Deputy White House Press Secretary. The quote is as follows:
“President Trump is committed to helping hardworking Americans stay in their homes and combatting the spread of the coronavirus. Today’s announcement from his administration means that people struggling to pay rent, due to the coronavirus, will not have to worry about being evicted and risk further spreading -- spreading of or exposure to the disease due to economic hardship. The administration has also made federal funds available to alleviate any economic impact to tenants, landlords, and property owners. While Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats play political games and refuse to negotiate in good faith on another round of needed relief, President Trump is helping families overcome unprecedented challenges.”
That’s the end of that quote.
The next quote, on the record, is attributed to Secretary Ben Carson. And his quote is as follows:
“This unprecedented action is further proof that President Trump is doing everything in his power to keep the American people safe and secure in their homes. HUD has also allocated nearly $10 billion in resources and rental assistance for American families at risk of becoming homeless at no fault of their own -- due at no fault of their own. The Federal Housing Administration, known as FHA, has extended its single-family eviction and foreclosure moratorium, or FHA-backed mortgages, through the end of 2020. Behind the strong leadership of President Trump, we are making a great deal of progress defeating the virus and rebuilding our economy. Implementing a nationwide eviction moratorium is another example of President Trump taking decisive action to keep Americans safe and secure.”
That is the conclusion of that quote, again, attributed to Dr. Ben Carson, Secretary of HUD.
With that, I will turn it over first to [senior administration official] to speak again on background as a “senior administration official.” We’ll then go to [senior administration official] on background as a “senior administration official.” And then to [senior administration official] who, if you'd like, he can attribute to a “Senior HUD Official.” And then we will go from there to questions.
So from there, I’ll turn it over to [senior administration official].
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, Brian. Since the start of the pandemic, the administration have taken unprecedented action to protect Americans and provide assistance to those facing economic hardship because of the pandemic. For instance, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act provided paid sick leave and paid expanded family and medical leave to those unable to work because of quarantine orders or a sick dependent.
The CARES Act, among other things, kept millions of employees on payroll, thanks to PPP. It distributed stimulus checks to millions of families. It made mortgage forbearance available to American homeowners, and it expanded UI coverage and increased UI benefits.
Many of these economic assistance programs, besides providing financial help, can also play an important role in limiting the spread of coronavirus. And the President’s August 8th executive order on fighting the spread of COVID-19, by providing assistance to renters and homeowners, falls squarely into this category.
Noting the risk of outbreaks associated with homelessness and shared housing, the EO announced the policy of -- to the greatest extent possible -- minimizing residential evictions and foreclosures during the national emergency. Various federal housing finance agencies have already taken action stopping eviction and foreclosure proceedings until the end of 2020 for homeowners -- single-family homeowners.
But the EO also asked the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the CDC to consider whether halting evictions of renters was reasonably necessary to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
After careful review, HHS and CDC have determined that a targeted order halting some evictions is, in fact, necessary. And this afternoon, the CDC posted an order in the Federal Register to that end.
And at this point, I’ll turn it over to [senior administration official] to describe the details of the order.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you. That’s right. So following the executive order by President Trump, today the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is using its authority to temporarily halt evictions through the end of 2020 in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The name of the order that is in the Federal Register is “A Temporary Halt to Residential Evictions to Prevent the Further Spread of COVID-19.” It simply states: “A landlord, owner of a residential property, or other person with a legal right to pursue eviction or a possessor of action, shall not evict any covered person from any residential property for the remainder of 2020 for failure to pay rent.”
Critically, our definition of a “covered person” is as follows:
First and foremost, all persons that received or would have been eligible for an Economic Impact Payment this year or based on 2020 income; those are individuals with $99,000 in income or less, or couples filing jointly of $198,000 or less.
Number two, all persons that are seeking this eviction protection must show that they have taken best efforts possible to seek government assistance to make their rental payments.
Third, they must affirmatively declare that that they are unable to pay rent due to COVID-related financial hardships.
And fourth, that they must demonstrate that they will
likely become homeless or move into congregate housing settings if they are evicted.
All persons must affirmatively declare these four things on a form that can be filled out and accessed on the Federal Register or the CDC website.
We want to be clear that those who benefit from this assistance are still obligated to pay any accrued rent or housing payments in accordance with their lease or contract. Further, landlords are still permitted to pursue eviction against tenants committing criminal acts, threatening the health and safety of other residents, damaging property, or other health and safety considerations.
The intent of this order is to use federal authority to prevent evictions that could exasperate the spread of COVID-19. It is essential, during this pandemic, that Americans have an effective place to quarantine, isolate, and socially distance, and evicting people from a residence undermines that objective. All enforcements of this CDC order will be adjudicated at the local level through normal eviction and court processes.
I'll now to turn it over to [senior administration official] over at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
SENIOR HUD OFFICIAL: Thanks. So I just wanted to highlight some HUD programs that could be available to individuals.
As [senior administration official] said, part of the moratorium requires the lessees or renters to use best efforts to obtain all available government assistance for rent or housing. HUD has a number of benefits that -- or programs that could be used for rent or housing. It’s important to remember that HUD funds these programs, but generally, they're administered by state and local authorities.
The HOME Program allows participating jurisdictions to use funds from a variety of housing activities according to local housing needs. Eligible use of funds includes tenant-based rental assistance. The Community Development Block Grant program, or CDBG, provides annual grants on a formula basis to states, cities, and counties to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment, and by expanding economic opportunities, principally from low- and moderate-income persons.
HUD has ensured that rental assistance is an eligible use of CDBG funds. And HUD will soon be announcing the allocation of the last round of CDBG funds provided for in the CARES Act, and that will have a focus on jurisdictions that have a high risk of eviction for individuals.
HUD also funds the Emergency Solutions Grant program, which is focused on assisting people to quickly regain stability and permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness. And there's the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program, which is the only federal program dedicated to housing needs of people living with HIV or AIDS.
Under the HOPWA program, HUD makes grants to local communities, states, and non-profit organizations for projects that benefit low-income persons living with HIV or AIDS and their families. This is in addition to public housing and the Housing Choice Voucher program, which may be available in certain jurisdictions. But, again, those are administered at the state and local level.
Those programs are in addition to the extension of the eviction and foreclosure moratorium that HUD announced last week on properties that have mortgages that are insured by the Federal Housing Administration. That moratorium, which started back in March, is now extended through the end of the year.
MS. LEAVITT: That concludes our opening statements. We will now move into question-and-answer.
Q Thanks for having the call. You mentioned something about some -- there's some money that you have that I guess can -- or is to go to landlords. I mean, potentially, landlords may not be getting rent for up to four months -- additional months. You know, can you talk about, you know, what money is available and what's going to happen to some of the folks?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you for that question. So there are a number of programs that HUD funds where those funds can be used for landlord assistance. I believe the Emergency Solutions Grant program is one of those programs.
It’s important to remember, though, that HUD funds state and local authorities, which then choose how to use that money. These are Block Grant programs. So, really, it is up to the state or local jurisdiction to choose to use that money for landlord assistance. HUD and the administration is obviously encouraging them to use available funds to help renters and landlords, but it is at the discretion of the state and local authority. Yeah.
And in the CARES Act, there are about 9 billion dollars’ worth of funds to the ESG program and CDBG program, both of which have rental assistance and homelessness prevention as allowable uses.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And we would also add that the Department of Treasury has made available $142 billion in the Coronavirus Relief Fund that are also permitted to be used for rental assistance, and we encourage the states to utilize those funds.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And then one final point. The order makes clear that a renter who cannot pay his or her full rent should pay an amount that is not unduly burdensome and is close to the full rent as possible. So it is not an invitation to stop paying rent.
Q Good evening. Thanks for doing the call. I have two questions. The first is: You said that eligibility for this eviction moratorium is dependent on whether or not a given household was eligible for economic impact payments. That leaves out a lot of people, particularly those whose (inaudible) are perhaps undocumented or are not U.S. citizens for any reason, either legally here or not legally here. And was that intentional?
And also, it seemed like you’re putting a lot of hoops to jump through before people can be eligible for this moratorium as opposed to the one that was imposed statutorily, which was just a blanket one. Why the hoops?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So that criteria of the Economic Impact Payment was pulled directly from the CARES Act. So Congress has already spoken that they believe that those are the individuals that are most unduly affected by the current ongoing pandemic. And then -- what was the second part of the question?
Q You seem to be putting people through a lot of hoops versus the statutory moratorium that the CARES Act put down. Why make people jump through all these hoops as opposed to simply extending -- doing what you can -- if you can, just extending the moratorium through regulation that was imposed statutorily?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So this current CDC order actually goes well beyond the statutory evictions moratorium. The statutory evictions moratorium in the CARES Act only include federally backed rental units. This covers any rental unit in the United States, so long as the renter meets those requirements where they demonstrate that they are at risk of becoming evicted.
Q By what authority though does the CDC have to make regulations on every -- are imposed on every landlord across the entire country though?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So the CDC has authority -- the CDC Director has authority to take measures that he deems reasonably necessary to mitigate the spread of a communicable disease. And you’ll find that in 42 CFR § 70.2.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think we can move onto the next question now, please.
Q Hi, there. Thank you guys again for hopping on with us. I wanted to clarify something. So there’s a halt of evictions. My question is: Where does that start? Does that start at the beginning of the process where the judicial, you know, filing would take place? Or does that -- is that saying that it could potentially go before a judge and the judge gets to determine whether or not they meet the criteria?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, so this is a moratorium on evictions that will start now and should prohibit any evictions from taking place that are covered by the order, to the extent --
Q But can they be filed?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, so, to the extent there is a dispute between the landlord and the renter about whether or not an eviction protection is in place here, it can be filed, and that would be for the local courts, which are not federal, to adjudicate.
Q Okay, so once that’s filed, isn’t that on someone’s record forever? Couldn’t that prevent them in the future from then getting another rental property or apartment because they, at this point, have an eviction filed against them so they now have to fight?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Can you repeat the question?
Q (Inaudible.)
OPERATOR: Okay, we will go ahead and move to the next question.
Q Yes. Thank you so much for taking the call. My question is: Now since you’re doing a halt on all evictions, what will happen? Will you guys will be sending information out to the actual renter so they know about it? Or will the states be notified via -- through HUD that these evictions are halted? Is there going to be a website that people can go on to prove that these evictions are being halted by the (inaudible) paperwork?
And also, you said that over $10 billion has been designated by HUD, but how does the average person know to get certain funds that are provided by HUD? Is it on the website?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: On the question of funds designated by HUD, HUD has a number of sources on its website. You can go to HUD.gov/coronavirus to view all of HUD’s coronavirus-related resources. And, as I said, many of the funding programs are administered at the state and local level. If you go to HUD.gov/state, an individual can find the programs that are administered by their state and contact information for those programs, primarily public housing authorities.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And as far as the rollouts -- the rollout of this order, it was posted today, and of course, that’s why we’re having these conversations. That’s ongoing.
If a renter would like to snag one of these declarations for them to be able to fill out, that is accessible today on the Federal Register and also the CDC website.
Q Thanks, everybody, for holding the call. I wanted to ask a question to clarify the part of the declaration that says, quote, “I have used best efforts to obtain all available government assistance for renter housing.” And I wanted to see if you could specify, you know, what exactly that means. Does that mean, you know, someone who is seeking this protection would have to prove that they’ve applied for, you know, every possible federally backed housing assistance program through the state agency and have to, you know, furnish that proof to get this? What exactly does that entail to prove that you have done your best efforts to get that?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: This is essentially a good-faith standard that you have to make reasonable efforts. I don’t think anyone would characterize this as, you know, wholly exhaustive or requesting a renter to become an expert on everything. It’s more of a good-faith reasonableness standard.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And I’d just add to that: That’s important for the renter and the landlord. As [senior administration official] outlined, rent is not forgiven; it continues to accrue. And likewise, the landlord continues to need income. And so finding those assistance dollars is good for the renter in that they’re not saddled with a large rental balance, and that’s good for the landlord in the sense that they continue to receive income.
Q Hi there. Thanks for holding this call. First off, I think Sloan asked earlier and I’d like to get an answer on whether or not this bar is to prevent evictions from showing up on their credit reports, essentially (inaudible) that would ruin their credit going forward.
But more broadly, generally, I wanted to ask: It sounds like besides existing CARES Act and HUD grant programs, there’s no additional money, right? I just want to be clear on that and also ask, to follow up on the authority question, I know you guys pointed to some U.S. code, but it seems like this would be something that Congress alone would have some -- would face some constitutional questions about whether or not it has the authority to interfere in individual contracts to this extent without any link back to the money that is provided from federally backed loans. This being a blanket eviction prohibition.
Thanks.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So on that last point, Congress has delegated broad authority to HHS, the Surgeon General, and CDC to take reasonable efforts to combat the spread of communicable diseases. And, frankly, I think it makes sense that those authorities are broad because we don’t know, for any given situation or scenario, what steps will be needed to stop the spread.
And I think, in this particular order, CDC has made a very compelling case that it is quite problematic at this particular time, and it's focused on this particular pandemic -- which has obviously been uniquely powerful, perhaps in this nation’s entire history, in terms of the effects it had -- that for a bunch of reasons, in particular, that homes had been, sort of, the focal point of people social distancing and building, sort of, a safe space for themselves over the past few months, and also the fact that if people get kicked out, they may end up in overcrowded congregate living facilities or homeless shelters.
But that is a potential recipe for a big spread of COVID-19, and that is why CDC has taken these steps, which are very much limited to this particular fact circumstance and is very much in keeping with the authority that Congress has delegated the CDC to handle, precisely these pandemics.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And on the funding question: CARES Act made available roughly $9 billion for various HUD programs -- CDBG, and ESG, and several billion more for other housing programs. HUD has already allocated and made available $7 billion of that. And the remaining two [billion] will be made available to the participating jurisdictions shortly.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Beyond HUD's funds, the Treasury has made explicitly clear in their guidance that the coronavirus relief fund that’s $150 billion for unexpected expenses for states and localities is eligible to be used for rental assistance.
And then, regarding the eviction record, it's important that there be an opportunity to adjudicate disputes between renters and landlords as to whether or not a renter is in fact -- does, in fact, meet the criteria listed in this order. Beyond that, the CDC order focuses on health and preventing, by preventing evictions. And so that longer-term question is an important one but not one directly addressed by the order.
Q Gotcha. I appreciate it. A quick follow-up. With regard to standard CDC directive, the CDC itself has said -- and a lot health experts agree -- that mandating mask wear is probably the most effective way of preventing this, and probably the misuse of masks -- the missing use of masks is what is contributing to the spread. So why not just have a mask mandate instead of interfering with, like, landlords and tenants here?
MS. LEAVITT: This does not have to do with the call at hand, so we're going to move on to the next question, but thank you.
Q Hey, everybody. This is Tony Romm from the Washington Post. I have to apologize -- the line went dead when I think somebody was asking this, so this might be a little bit of repeat.
But I'm wondering if you can talk through the actual process by which a renter would go about getting this. Because, as I understand it, we do have situations in which people have had a hard time obtaining renter assistance funds, particularly at the local level. And, in some cases, we are seeing eviction proceedings starting against people, even in cases where there are moratoria in place.
So can you, sort of, walk through this process and talk about whether we could still see those eviction proceedings filed, even though you guys put forward this order today?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, thank you for that question. We did cover some of this earlier. But first and foremost, the declarations form that we're asking all persons to fill out who'd be eligible for this can be found on the CDC website, and then likewise, in the Federal Register.
As far as funding is concerned, as [senior administration official] pointed out, there is an incentive both on the renter’s perspective and the landlord's perspective to make all efforts to find and secure various forms of government assistance.
So the renters and the landlords can both seek out that assistance with state and local authorities that have the ability to allocate and administer the various HUD programs that [senior administration official] went over -- that $9 billion that was allocated in the CARES Act, in addition to the $142 billion in the coronavirus relief fund at the state level.
Q Just to be clear here, we had heard reports earlier on, during the CARES Act, that there were still eviction proceedings happening despite the moratorium being in place. There was this big issue around enforcement and what was already on the books. So are you guys worried about that? Like, how are you going to ensure that people who meet the criteria actually get the protections here?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, can't comment per se where those other stories were -- come, but keep in mind the CARES Act eviction moratorium only covered federally backed housing. So there’s a possibility those were non-federally-backed housing.
This -- today's order goes well beyond that and covers all residential units. And as far as, you know, who is -- the ability to utilize these funds or utilize this order, you know, this is a federally mandated, using HHS statutory authority, that would become criminal offense if presented with this declaration.
Q Yeah, thanks for taking this question. I’m just trying to get a sense of how many people this moratorium will reach. And can you just explain again how it's different from the existing moratorium set by HUD and Fannie and Freddie regulator.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, so, in terms of indifference, the existing moratorium on evictions and foreclosures is applicable to single-family homeowners. So that’s someone that has bought a house with a federally backed mortgage. This order is applicable to renters, broadly speaking.
Beyond that, on your second question, I want to make sure -- and can you repeat that just to make sure I address it correctly?
Q Yeah.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Oh, a number of people, yeah.
Q And then I have a question about the process, too, but it'll be brief. But I'm also wondering the number of people and, sort of, who these forms -- these applications actually are submitted to.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah. In terms of the number of people, it will change over time. In our analysis, a broad plurality of renters currently benefit from a state or local stay on evictions. So that will change over time, and that will affect the number that will be benefiting from this.
The second point there is: While it is a broad swath of American renters, that it’s a much smaller category who are actually experiencing rent challenges that we’ve seen through survey.
So our expectation is that this will be a tremendous assistance to some, but not a overwhelming -- not have overwhelming uptake.
And then, in terms of accessing the forms, was that the final question?
Q Yeah, I guess they’re on the CDC site somewhere. And then I didn’t understand who actually -- like who you turn it into.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Oh, right. Yeah, it’s all up on the Federal Register. It will be on the CDC website shortly if it’s not already. We will continue outreach and continue to publicize its availability across a broad swath of government.
And then, in terms of how this will actually work is that this would be a declaration presented to the landlord if that landlord approached the tenant with the intent to evict.
MS. LEAVITT: Okay, I think we’ll end on that. Thank you everyone for joining the call. All of these remarks in the question-and-answer portion were on background to senior administration officials, with the exception of the quote that Brian read off at the very beginning.
If you have any additional questions, please direct them to the White House Press Office as always. And have a great night.
END 5:39 P.M.
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