I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7402 

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

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 29, 2020 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois (for himself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. PRESSLEY, 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. TLAIB, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

SERRANO, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. WATERS, Mr. 

MCNERNEY, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. 

NADLER, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. KAPTUR, 

Mr. COHEN, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. HASTINGS, and Mr. 

MFUME) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide a temporary moratorium on eviction filings, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Renters 

5 from Eviction and Fees Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EVICTION MORATORIUM. 

2 The CARES Act is amended by striking section 4024 

3 (15 U.S.C. 9058; Public Law 116–136; 134 Stat. 492) 

4 and inserting the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 4024. TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON EVICTION FIL6 INGS. 

7 ‘‘(a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.—The Congress 

8 finds that— 

9 ‘‘(1) according to the 2018 American Commu10 nity Survey, 36 percent of households in the United 

11 States—more than 43 million households—are rent12 ers; 

13 ‘‘(2) in 2019 alone, renters in the United States 

14 paid $512 billion in rent; 

15 ‘‘(3) according to the Joint Center for Housing 

16 Studies of Harvard University, 20.8 million renters 

17 in the United States spent more than 30 percent of 

18 their incomes on housing in 2018 and 10.9 million 

19 renters spent more than 50 percent of their incomes 

20 on housing in the same year; 

21 ‘‘(4) according to data from the Department of 

22 Labor, more than 40 million people have filed for 

23 unemployment since the COVID-19 pandemic began; 

24 ‘‘(5) the impacts of the spread of COVID-19, 

25 which is now considered a global pandemic, are ex26 pected to negatively impact the incomes of potenVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7402.IH H7402

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1 tially millions of renter households, making it dif2 ficult for them to pay their rent on time; and 

3 ‘‘(6) evictions in the current environment would 

4 increase homelessness and housing instability, which 

5 would be counterproductive towards the public 

6 health goals of keeping individuals in their homes to 

7 the greatest extent possible. 

8 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

9 following definitions shall apply: 

10 ‘‘(1) COVERED DWELLING.—The term ‘covered 

11 dwelling’ means a dwelling that is occupied by a ten12 ant— 

13 ‘‘(A) pursuant to a residential lease; or 

14 ‘‘(B) without a lease or with a lease ter15 minable at will under State law. 

16 ‘‘(2) DWELLING.—The term ‘dwelling’’ has the 

17 meaning given such term in section 802 of the Fair 

18 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3602) and includes houses 

19 and dwellings described in section 803(b) of such 

20 Act (42 U.S.C. 3603(b)). 

21 ‘‘(c) MORATORIUM.—During the 1-year period begin22 ning on March 27, 2020, the lessor of a covered dwelling 

23 may not— 

24 ‘‘(1) make, or cause to be made, any filing with 

25 the court of jurisdiction to initiate a legal action to 


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1 recover possession of the covered dwelling from the 

2 tenant for nonpayment of rent or other fees or 

3 charges, or for reasons motivated wholly or in part 

4 by the nonpayment of rent or other fees or charges 

5 by the tenant; or 

6 ‘‘(2) charge fees, penalties, or other charges to 

7 the tenant related to such nonpayment of rent. 

8 ‘‘(d) NOTICE TO VACATE AFTER MORATORIUM EXPI9 RATION DATE.—After the expiration of the period de10 scribed in subsection (c), the lessor of a covered dwelling 

11 may not require the tenant to vacate the covered dwelling 

12 by reason of nonpayment of rent or other fees or charges 

13 before the expiration of the 30-day period that begins 

14 upon the provision by the lessor to the tenant, after the 

15 expiration of the period described in subsection (c), of a 

16 notice to vacate the covered dwelling.’’. 

Æ 


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