[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4097 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4097

 To provide a temporary moratorium on eviction filings, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 29, 2020

    Ms. Warren (for herself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Markey, Mr. 
   Blumenthal, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Smith, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. 
   Gillibrand, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Cardin, Ms. 
Klobuchar, Ms. Harris, and Mr. Schumer) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide a temporary moratorium on eviction filings, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Renters from Evictions 
and Fees Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. EVICTION MORATORIUM.

    Section 4024 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9058) is amended to read 
as follows:

``SEC. 4024. TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON EVICTION FILINGS.

    ``(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            ``(1) according to the 2018 American Community Survey, 36 
        percent of households in the United States, or more than 
        43,000,000 people, are renters;
            ``(2) in 2019, renters in the United States paid 
        $512,000,000,000 in rent;
            ``(3) according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of 
        Harvard University, 20,800,000 renters in the United States 
        spent more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing in 2018 
        and 10,900,000 renters spent more than 50 percent of their 
        incomes on housing in the same year;
            ``(4) according to data from the Department of Labor, more 
        than 40,000,000 people in the United States have filed for 
        unemployment since the COVID-19 pandemic began;
            ``(5) the impacts of the spread of COVID-19, which is now 
        considered a global pandemic, are expected to negatively impact 
        the incomes of potentially millions of renter households, 
        making it difficult for them to pay their rent on time; and
            ``(6) evictions in the current environment would increase 
        homelessness and housing instability, which would be 
        counterproductive to the public health goals of keeping 
        individuals in their homes to the greatest extent possible.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Covered dwelling.--The term `covered dwelling' means 
        a dwelling that is occupied by a tenant--
                    ``(A) pursuant to a residential lease; or
                    ``(B) without a lease or with a lease terminable at 
                will under State law.
            ``(2) Dwelling.--The term `dwelling'--
                    ``(A) has the meaning given the term in section 802 
                of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3602); and
                    ``(B) includes a house or dwelling described in 
                section 803(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3603(b)).
    ``(c) Moratorium.--During the 1-year period beginning on March 27, 
2020, the lessor of a covered dwelling may not--
            ``(1) make, or cause to be made, any filing with the court 
        of jurisdiction to initiate a legal action to recover 
        possession of the covered dwelling from the tenant for 
        nonpayment of rent or other fees or charges, or for reasons 
        motivated wholly or in part by the nonpayment of rent or other 
        fees or charges by the tenant; or
            ``(2) charge fees, penalties, or other charges to the 
        tenant related to such nonpayment of rent.
    ``(d) Notice To Vacate After Moratorium Expiration Date.--After the 
expiration of the period described in subsection (c), the lessor of a 
covered dwelling may not require the tenant to vacate the covered 
dwelling by reason of nonpayment of rent or other fees or charges 
before the expiration of the 30-day period that begins upon the 
provision by the lessor to the tenant, after the expiration of the 
period described in subsection (c), of a notice to vacate the covered 
dwelling.''.
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