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Introduce ‘Respect State Housing Laws Act’ to End Federal Eviction Notice Requirement, Return Responsibility to States
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) have introduced legislation to restore the right of states and localities to regulate eviction policies by striking a federal pandemic-era requirement that continues to roil the rental market years after the national health emergency ended.
The Respect State Housing Laws Act (S.470) would strike a section of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 that continues to require landlords and property owners to issue a 30-day notice to vacate (NTV) before filing to evict a tenant for nonpayment of rent. Prior to the CARES Act federal mandate, NTV requirements were set on a state-to-state basis with an average eight-day notice.
“Landlords and property owners have been under significant stress since the federal government inserted itself into the realm of state and local housing regulations. We must acknowledge that precautions enacted during a long-ended national emergency were never meant to last forever, and that couldn’t be truer for the federal 30-day notice to vacate rule. It’s well past time to eliminate rule,” said Hyde-Smith, chair of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee.
Unlike the now-lapsed temporary 120-day eviction moratorium created in the CARES Act for properties financed or backed by the federal government, the CARES Act did not sunset the separate 30-day NTV rule.
As a result, the 30-day NTV mandate continues to sow confusion in the courts due to conflicting federal and state requirements, while landlords continue to lose rent revenue during the prolonged notice period. The rule subjects many tenants to experience deeper financial straits due to multiple late rent payments and accruing late fees.
Despite these drawbacks, Biden’s Department of Housing and Urban Development in mid-December announced a final rule requiring public housing agencies and owners of properties receiving project-based rental assistance to provide written notices at least 30 days prior to a tenant eviction for nonpayment.
U.S. Congressmen Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) introduced a House companion measure (HR.1078).
The Respect State Housing Laws Act is supported by the Mississippi Apartment Association, National Apartment Association, Council for Affordable and Rural Housing, Institute of Real Estate Management, Manufactured Housing Institute, National Affordable Housing Management Association, National Association of Home Builders, National Association of Residential Property Managers, National Leased Housing Association, National Multifamily Housing Council, and Public Housing Authorities Directors Association
“Unnecessary and duplicative federal intrusion into complex state and local law amplifies the financial and operational challenges housing providers across our country continue to face. With 93 cents of each rent dollar paying the bills that keep rental housing operational, prolonged disturbances to standard operating procedures have major implications,” said National Apartment Association President and CEO Robert Pinnegar. “On behalf of the nation’s rental housing providers, the National Apartment Association thanks Representatives Vicente Gonzalez and Barry Loudermilk and Senators Bill Hagerty and Cindy Hyde-Smith for recognizing this adverse impact and reintroducing the Respect State Housing Laws Act to help restore balance and normalcy to rental housing operations.”
“For professional housing providers, eviction is always a last resort. This legislation will help ensure that providers can continue to provide stable, affordable housing options for American families. We thank Senator Hyde-Smith, Senator Hagerty, Representative Loudermilk, and Representative Gonzalez for their leadership on this issue and for their introduction of the ‘Respect State Housing Laws Act,’” said National Association of Residential Property Managers CEO Gail Phillips, CAE.
Hyde-Smith and Hagerty cosponsored similar legislation offered by former U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in previous congressional sessions.
