Fighting the Spread of COVID-19 by Providing Assistance to Renters and Homeowners
Executive Order 13945, signed in August 2020, directs federal agencies to take action to prevent residential evictions and foreclosures caused by financial hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic. The order emphasizes that keeping people housed is important for public health and for reducing the spread of the virus, and it calls for identifying resources and potential temporary measures to help renters and homeowners stay in their homes. It explicitly states that any such actions must be consistent with law and available appropriations, and it does not create new rights or guarantees. The order relies on ongoing coordination among multiple agencies (HHS/CDC, Treasury, HUD, and FHFA) to assess whether temporary eviction moratoriums are necessary to prevent spread, to locate federal funds for temporary financial assistance, and to promote eviction/foreclosure avoidance through programmatic actions and outreach to housing authorities, landlords, and recipients of federal funds.
Key Points
- 1The order reiterates the goal of minimizing evictions and foreclosures during the COVID-19 national emergency, linking housing stability to public health and the prevention of virus spread.
- 2Section 3(a) directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the CDC Director to consider whether temporary eviction moratoriums are reasonably necessary to prevent the cross-state (or cross-territorial) spread of COVID-19.
- 3Section 3(b) requires the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to identify all available federal funds to provide temporary financial assistance to renters and homeowners facing COVID-19-related hardships.
- 4Section 3(c) tasks HUD with taking actions to promote eviction/foreclosure avoidance, including encouraging and supporting public housing authorities, affordable housing owners, landlords, and recipients of federal grants in reducing evictions and foreclosures.
- 5Section 3(d) directs FHFA (in coordination with Treasury) to review existing authorities and resources that could be used to prevent evictions and foreclosures for COVID-19-related hardships; this includes the government-sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and related tools.