CDC brings back COVID eviction protections. Here’s what that means for SC
The Centers for Disease Control announced new temporary protections for renters on Tuesday night, just days after an initial ban on evictions ended.
The new order, which expires on Oct. 3, targets counties with “substantial” or “high level” spread of coronavirus. All South Carolina counties fell into one of those two categories as of Wednesday afternoon.
“It would have been bad enough if the moratorium was lifted and we weren’t experiencing this incredible surge, but with the spike in cases we’re seeing, the last thing we want to see is families being displaced right now,” said Sue Berkowitz from South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center.
Leading up to the CDC’s decision, several members of Congress including House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of Columbia urged President Joe Biden to reinstate the moratorium.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Clyburn, a Democrat, questioned why the majority of federal funds South Carolina received for rent relief still had not been distributed.
“It makes no sense to me that here in South Carolina we’re sitting on $500 million, and people are about to have their furniture put out on the streets,” he said.
SC Housing is tasked with distributing $271.8 million of those funds to the state’s 39 smaller counties. As of Monday, the agency had only paid out $2.4 million, according to spokeswoman Renaye Long.
A state mandate requires all of the funds to be spent by Sept. 30. .
“We are not where we want to be in terms of pacing ourselves but we are shooting for that mark,” Long said.
She explained that rigorous documentation requirements have caused delays in the program, and that SC Housing has begun to ease some of those restrictions to make it easier for renters to complete their applications.
For landlords across the state, the CDC’s new order represents a violation of their rights as property owners.
“The extension of the moratorium does nothing to speed the delivery of real solutions for South Carolina renters and ignores the unsustainable and unfair economic burden placed on millions of housing providers which risk jeopardizing their financial stability and threatening the loss of affordable housing stock nationwide,” said Donald Wood, executive director of the South Carolina Apartment Association, an industry group that represents landlords.
Gov. Henry McMaster has also questioned the CDC’s repeated extensions of the eviction moratorium.
“It’s time for all of us to get back to work,” he told reporters last week. “That is the way to go forward, for us to be working. At some point these emergency measures must end.”
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 10:55 AM.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Donald Woods’ title. The story has been updated to reflect that he is executive director.
