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- Both a federal eviction ban and a moratorium on foreclosures expire in eight days.
- Some advocates are pushing for an extension of the eviction ban as new virus cases pile up.
- The Biden administration is poised to allow both relief programs to expire on July 31.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
On July 31, a set of pandemic-relief measures for renters and homeowners enacted under President Trump will end – and the Biden administration doesn't appear interested in renewing them.
A federal eviction ban is ending on July 31 after an extension last month. It's the same for a moratorium on foreclosures. But the Biden administration rolled out a new measure allowing homeowners to refinance their mortgages and cut monthly payments in an effort to aid 1.8 million Americans still in forbearance.
Still, some groups are pushing for the White House to take more aggressive steps to prevent people from losing their homes.
On evictions, advocates say the emergency measure's end threatens 6 million renters who are at risk of losing their homes at a moment new infections are rising and a federal program to help them has been very slow to provide rent relief.
"The CDC eviction moratorium is a necessary public health measure to lessen spread of/deaths from COVID-19," Diane Yentel, president of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, recently wrote on Twitter. "The need clearly remains as Delta surges & 6m renter households remain behind on rent & at risk of eviction when moratorium expires."
Paul Williams, a fellow at the Jain Family Institute, projected that 80% of all households struggling with rental debt are in counties experiencing a surge of virus cases due to the Delta variant.
"Letting county courts kick people onto the street next week is probably the worst Delta variant strategy I can think of," he wrote on Twitter.
Around 11.4 million renters - or 16% overall - have fallen behind on rent payments, according to an analysis of Census data from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Around 3 million people said they could be evicted within a mere two months. Some courts ruled the ban unconstitutional earlier this year, Insider's Ayelet Sheffey reported.
Separately, the Biden administration is allowing homeowners to extend the length of their mortgage. The White House said Friday that homeowners with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can still delay their payments until September 30.