Objective: to avoid a major social crisis. The White House put pressure, Monday, August 2, on states and local communities to prevent the evictions of tenants in difficulty , the day after the expiration of the moratorium that protected them and while the Delta variant is once again pushing up the case of Covid-19  in the country.

Some states have taken steps to protect their residents until the end of the month, affecting about a third of US renters, “but in other states we have to act,” the White House spokeswoman said, in a press release.

Millions of people in arrears

Teams from the White House were called upon to study the possibility of suspending the expulsions via “other authorities” than Congress, which, thanks to a recent court ruling, is the only one able to extend the moratorium.

The White House wants above all to accelerate the payment to tenants of funds provided for in early February by the Biden administration to help them pay their rents. To date, only $ 3 billion has been distributed, out of a total envelope of $ 46 billion. More than 10 million people are behind on their rent payments, calculated the CBPP, an independent research institute. 

The White House took parliamentarians by surprise Thursday, ensuring that the health authorities could no longer, for legal reasons, further extend this moratorium, and asking them to legislate urgently. What the elected officials did not manage to do before the House of Representatives ceased its work for the summer break.