UPDATE: on the evening of Monday, December 21, Congress passed a pandemic aid bill, which included the extension of the federal eviction moratorium through 12/31.
Thank you for making your voice heard! While this was a critical, life-saving action and we are relieved that many tenants will have more time, we are frustrated at how long it took to pass this legislation, and are still very concerned about the loopholes which have allowed hundreds of Louisvillians to be evicted this year—much less the fact that tenants only have an additional 30 days, which is not enough time.
We will need President Biden and the new Congress to act swiftly to forgive rent and mortgages, send more stimulus funding to Americans, and extend and strengthen the eviction moratorium.
Mayor Fischer and Governor Beshear still have a role to play, too. They can make the right choice to close loopholes and strengthen protections for tenants.
We stand by our sentiment that no one should be evicted during a pandemic. This is a critical matter of public health. Join us in taking action on local and state levels to establish an eviction moratorium.
Take Local Action.
Send the Mayor an email now asking that he establish a robust local eviction moratorium.
Background Info
- Monday, November 30: The Kentucky Equal Justice Center sends a thorough analysis to Mayor Fischer and the County Attorney outlining why it’s legal to establish a local eviction moratorium during a pandemic.
- Wednesday, December 2: We create a form inviting Louisvillians to send an email to Mayor Fischer. Over 2,100 people do so.
- Sunday, December 13: The Courier-Journal publishes our op-ed, “Being Evicted During the Peak of the Pandemic Is Immoral.”
- Sunday, December 13: Mayor Fischer releases a response saying he cannot impose a local moratorium, and also produces a new letter from the County Attorney. This new guidance reverses their previous position and states that for the mayor to put a hold on evictions is “a power tantamount to the taking of a citizen’s property.” The “citizen” here is a landlord who cannot evict a tenant; the letter doesn’t acknowledge the cruel irony that evictions resuming will cause the forcible removal of thousands of families—and their property—from their homes during the peak of the pandemic this winter.
Send this message to Metro Council now: “The CDC’s eviction moratorium expires 1/31. Thousands of Louisville tenants are at risk of eviction. You must dedicate a large portion of the city’s surplus to rental assistance funding for tenants and landlords.”
Take Statewide Action.
Send the Governor an email now asking that he extend the statewide eviction moratorium with more robust protections.
Background Info
- Governor Beshear initially established an eviction moratorium in Kentucky earlier during the coronavirus pandemic.
- When the CDC (federal) moratorium was established, the Governor’s order became tied to that one.
- Now is the Governor’s chance to extend the moratorium for all Kentuckians through at least March 31, with a rolling six-month extension until the pandemic and its resulting crises are resolved.
- See this letter from the Kentucky Equal Justice Center for more details.
Take Federal Action.
Update: On the evening of 12/21, Congress extended the CDC eviction moratorium, but only through 1/31, and there are still many loopholes that leave millions of Americans vulnerable to eviction.
We will need President Biden and the new Congress to act swiftly to forgive rent and mortgages, send more stimulus funding to Americans, and extend and strengthen the eviction moratorium.
Please stay tuned for more federal actions to take in January with new leadership on a federal level.
Thank you for taking action. No one should be evicted during a pandemic.