This Q & A was created by Jessica Radbord, Esq. of Vermont Legal Aid

The CDC issued a new order temporarily halting evictions in counties with substantial levels of COVID transmission. As of Aug. 5, Bennington, Chittenden, Franklin, Grand Isle, Orleans, and Washington counties are covered.  You can find the covered counties on this map: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view. 

• How long does the new eviction moratorium last?

  • Until October 3 at the latest, unless a court strikes it down sooner.

  • If, at any point, a county no longer experiences a substantial rate of transmission, the moratorium will expire 14 days later (unless we return to substantial transmission rates during that 14 day period, and then it kicks back in). 

• What does the new eviction moratorium do?

• • It bars a landlord from filing an eviction case if the tenant has asserted their rights under the moratorium. It also stays nonpayment eviction cases already filed if the tenant has asserted their rights. 
  • NOTE: If a case or notice of termination is for both nonpayment and breach, the case could still move forward based on the breach. 

• Does the new eviction moratorium apply to all eviction cases?

• • No. It only applies to evictions for nonpayment of rent for eligible tenants who have asserted their rights.

• Are all tenants eligible?

• • No. They have to meet the eligibility criteria on the Eviction Protection Declaration Form. The tenant MUST give the form to their landlord to assert their rights to the protection. The tenant should keep a copy of the form.  If there’s already a case pending in court, they should submit a copy to the court. 

• • • If the tenant has a case pending in court, the tenant should call Legal Services Vermont/Vermont Legal Aid at 800-889-2047.  When they leave a message, they should say that they have a pending eviction case and their county

• • NOTE: If the tenant is exercising their rights under the moratorium, they are swearing to try to access all forms of rental assistance available. And here in Vermont, that’s VERAP. If the tenant refuses to apply for rental assistance, they should not use the form. They must follow through with applying for VERAP if they are asserting their rights under the moratorium. 

• Should tenants get legal advice before using the form?

  • Sure, if they want!  Call Legal Services Vermont/Vermont Legal Aid at 800-889-2047.  Leave a message as the intake staff are not taking live calls. It can take up to 7 business days to get a callback because of an extremely high call volume. If a tenant is running up against a deadline, they should indicate in their voicemail what deadline is coming up. The intake staff tries to prioritize callbacks where the person identifies a critical deadline. But for the most part, if the person qualifies based on the simple questions on the form and is willing to apply for VERAP, I don’t see a reason not to use it.

The full text of the new eviction moratorium is here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/communication/Signed-CDC-Eviction-Order.pdf.