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Agence France-Presse

Eviction protections expired on Sunday for millions of Americans who could face homelessness within days, triggering a scramble to unlock billions in stalled rental aid and recriminations in Washington.
Renters had been shielded from eviction for nearly a year as part of a government moratorium intended to keep people in their houses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But US lawmakers have failed to extend those expiring protections and only US$3 billion in aid has reached households out of the US$25 billion allotted to states and localities in early February.
“We should be compassionate. We should help. And if that money is there, we should use it for its intended purpose,” Democratic Senator Joe Manchin told CNN.
More than 3.6 million Americans are at risk of eviction, some in a matter of days.
Over a quarter of renters are behind in some states, according to the Centre on Budget and Policy Priorities think-tank.
Southern states are some of the worst affected, though some 16 per cent of US households owed rent – about double the amount before the pandemic.
The protections lapsed at midnight on Saturday, two days after the White House announced it would not be legally able to renew the moratorium.
Republicans balked at Democratic efforts to extend the freeze through mid-October, and the House of Representatives adjourned for its summer holiday Friday without renewing it.

But Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez laid blame on President Joe Biden’s administration for waiting until the last minute to ask Congress to act – saying it could have done so weeks earlier.
She added it would be unfair to turf people out when billions in aid have not been spent – a total of US$46 billion has been approved by Congress – and called for an immediate vote to extend the moratorium.
“We cannot kick people out of their homes when our end of the bargain has not been fulfilled,” she told CNN.
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Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats joined congresswoman Cori Bush, who camped outside the Capitol over the weekend in protest.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior Democratic leaders also urged Biden to extend the moratorium.
“Doing so is a moral imperative to keep people from being put out on the street which also contributes to the public health emergency,” they said.

Unlike other pandemic-related aid that was distributed from Washington, it was states, counties and cities that were responsible for building programmes from the ground up to dole out help to renters.
Samantha Pate and Andrew Martinez are two renters who wonder when their eviction notice may come.
Their family of four in the western state of Colorado is eight months behind in rent, roughly US$8,000, they told local TV station KDVR on Saturday.
Both have been working or looking for work but have been struggling to survive financially. They said they may end up living in tents.
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“This is not camping for us, this is going to be a way of life,” Martinez said.
The moratorium and other protections prevented an estimated 2.2 million eviction filings since March 2020, said Peter Hepburn, a research fellow at the Eviction Lab at Princeton University.
If those renters are forced back onto the market, they will be facing ever higher prices, according to a realtor.com June rental report.
Rental prices reached new highs in sections of the country, with some parts of Florida and California seeing over 20 per cent price hikes over the previous year.
This “is adding to the challenges faced by lower-income Americans as they struggle to recover from job losses and other hardships brought about by Covid,” said Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale.
Additional reporting by Associated Press and Reuters


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America braces for millions of evictions as moratorium expires

The moratorium and other protections prevented an estimated 2.2 million eviction filings since March 2020. File photo: AFP

People camp out on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to highlight the upcoming expiration of the pandemic-related federal moratorium on residential evictions, in Washington, U.S., July 31, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, speaks during a protest against the expiration of the eviction moratorium outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021. A last-minute extension of an eviction moratorium for renters collapsed Friday, leaving millions of Americans at risk of losing their homes after the ban lifts on Saturday. Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

Coronavirus: US urges face masks indoors as Delta variant surges

People wear masks while walking inside Grand Central Terminal in New York City on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

US congresswoman spends night outside Capitol to protest against return of evictions

Cori Bush speaks to supporters as she spends the night outside the US Capitol in Washington on Saturday. Photo: Getty Images / AFP

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during her weekly media availability on Capitol Hill on June 17, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Joshua Roberts/Getty Images/TNS)

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 31: A sign calling for fighting evictions is set on the ground as Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) spends the night outside the U.S. Capitol to call for for an extension of the federal eviction moratorium on July 31, 2021 in Washington, DC. The eviction moratorium, which ends today, has helped 2 million people stay in their homes who suffered financial hardships due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Joshua Roberts/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

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Eviction ban, related to the coronavirus pandemic, expired at midnight on Saturday
More than 3.6 million Americans are at risk of eviction, some in a matter of days



Renters had been shielded from eviction for nearly a year as part of a moratorium intended to keep people in their houses during the pandemic.


America braces for millions of evictions as moratorium expires

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Eviction ban, related to the coronavirus pandemic, expired at midnight on Saturday More than 3.6 million Americans are at risk of eviction, some in a matter of days

Eviction ban, related to the coronavirus pandemic, expired at midnight on Saturday

More than 3.6 million Americans are at risk of eviction, some in a matter of days