Federal Housing Administration extends eviction ban for some

House Democrats said Friday they could not muster enough support for emergency legislation to extend a pandemic moratorium on evictions. The moratorium expired on Saturday. A Census Bureau survey in early July reported at least 3.6 million people said they were at risk of eviction in the next two months.

What is being done? The Federal Housing Administration and the Federal Housing Finance Agency issued extensions through Sept. 30 for families who have defaulted on their government-backed mortgages. President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday to extend the moratorium by one month to protect renters, too. Republicans said the Democrats were rushing through legislation too quickly, and moderate Democrats also complained that the White House waited until the day before the ban expired to raise the issue. With the House and Senate about to leave for the August recess, Pelosi called on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to take action. But the Supreme Court has already ruled the agency doesn’t have the authority to extend the moratorium. 

Dig deeper: Read Charissa Koh’s report in Compassion on a potential housing crisis.