The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 enacted on Dec. 27, 2020, contains provisions extending new relief to those affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Section 502 of the Act contains an extension of the Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions originally issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on September 4, 2020.  Residential evictions for nonpayment of rent are now halted through January 31, 2021.

As a reminder, this halt applies to all tenants in HUD and USDA properties who certify that they meet the CDC criteria, such as:

• All adults in the household have attempted to obtain any available government assistance for rent
• The household meets income limits of $99,000 per individual or $198,000 per couple
• The household is unable to pay full rent due to a loss in household income or extraordinary medical expenses
• Timely partial payments have been attempted
• Eviction would likely make the household homeless or force them into an unsafe shared living arrangement

The CDC guidance contains a sample certification form for tenants (available here) and all adult members of the household must certify eligibility.