President Donald Trump has managed to do what no public official did during the years of mass foreclosure waves, 2006-08 — a moratorium on both foreclosures of homeowners and evictions of tenants through the end of 2020. The orders flowing from his Aug. 8 Executive Order — one of several which looked very difficult to enforce at the time — have held off the threat of eviction for more than 40 million renters. This, by the President who, according to his furious critics, “doesn’t care” and “has done nothing” about the COVID-19 pandemic.
First, on Aug. 28, the Federal Housing Finance Authority (which controls Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and the FHA announced an extension to Dec. 31 of forbearance on mortgages they insure — this covered about 3 million of the 4 million homeowners in danger of foreclosure; and where they owned multi-family dwellings, extended forbearance for their tenants as well.
Then, following up a part of the Aug. 8 Executive Order which directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to evaluate whether temporarily halting evictions would help stem the spread of COVID-19, yesterday the CDC issued a nationwide order halting evictions through the end of this year. The New York Times, The Hill and other media quoted from the CDC order which cited the danger that evicted tenants could have to move into “congregated housing situations,” thus increasing spread of the virus.
