Eviction Moratoriums: Temporary Protections for Tenants

No nationwide eviction moratorium is in effect in October 2026. The CDC's moratorium ended on August 26, 2021, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the agency lacked the authority to impose it. What remains is narrower: a federal 30-day notice rule for many tenants in federally assisted or federally financed housing, local pauses after declared disasters, and state and city limits on lockouts during extreme weather, winter, or the school year.

Is there a federal eviction moratorium now?

No. The CARES Act barred landlords of federally assisted or federally financed properties from filing for unpaid rent for 120 days starting March 27, 2020. The CDC then imposed a broader moratorium for renters across the country who declared financial hardship, until the Supreme Court ended it in 2021. Outside the local exceptions below, a landlord can now file for unpaid rent once it gives the notice your state and any federal rule require; our eviction timeline lists each state's notice period.

Does the CARES Act 30-day notice cover your building?

The CARES Act still says the landlord of a covered property cannot make you move out until 30 days after it gives you a notice to vacate. A property is covered if it takes part in a federal housing program, such as public housing, Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8), project-based Section 8, the low-income housing tax credit, or USDA rural housing, or if its mortgage is backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, or USDA.

Whether the rule still protects you depends on where you live:

• Most courts: A May 2026 Congressional Research Service report found that most courts to rule have held the 30-day notice has no expiration date and applies to evictions for unpaid rent, not other reasons. Appeals courts in Ohio and Washington have said the landlord must wait until the 30 days end before filing, while a Virginia appeals court said only the lockout must wait.
• Iowa: The Iowa Supreme Court held in 2025 that the rule applied only to tenants who fell behind during the 2020 moratorium.
• Texas: Since January 1, 2026, state law lets a landlord file without waiting for a federal notice period, but the court's removal order (writ of possession) cannot be served on you until the federal period has passed since the notice.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stopped enforcing the rule against their borrowers in October 2025, and the House Financial Services Committee approved a repeal bill on December 17, 2025, but the law has not changed. HUD has its own 30-day rule for unpaid rent in public housing and project-based Section 8 buildings. HUD moved to revoke it in February 2026, then delayed that change indefinitely on March 13, 2026, so the 30 days still apply there.

To find out if your building is covered, ask your landlord in writing whether the property has a federally backed mortgage or is in a federal housing program, and check Freddie Mac's online rental lookup if you live in an apartment building. If you have a Housing Choice Voucher or live in public housing or a project-based Section 8 building, your home is a covered property. If you got less than 30 days, raise it in court; defenses against eviction explains how, and pay-or-quit notices explained covers what a nonpayment notice must say.

Disaster moratoriums

Pauses after hurricanes, wildfires, or floods come from state and local governments, so check your state, county, and city. In September 2026, Spokane, Washington, adopted a court defense against eviction for unpaid rent accrued during a mayor-declared emergency. Tenants must have lost at least 10% of their pre-emergency average monthly household income because of the emergency, after counting replacement income, including unemployment and emergency benefits, and applied for disaster aid, unemployment, or other qualifying income help. To raise the defense, you must give your landlord written certification under penalty of perjury within five days of each monthly rent due date, stating that the emergency's financial impact prevents you from paying and that you have begun seeking income replacement. Those tenants get 12 months after the emergency to repay, with no late fees.

Some states block local moratoriums. Since January 1, 2026, Texas law says only the legislature can modify or suspend eviction procedures, which rules out city and county moratoriums there; Texas Supreme Court disaster orders can still apply if they cover every kind of court case.

Winter, extreme weather, and holiday limits on lockouts

Some places delay the lockout itself because of weather, the season, or the day of the week:

• District of Columbia: no eviction on a day when the National Weather Service predicts at 8 a.m. a temperature below 32 or above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, or while precipitation is falling, unless a court has found illegal activity, a danger to neighbors, or abandonment.
• Maryland: courts must postpone a lockout day to day when the temperature or next-day forecast is 32 degrees or lower, or during a winter storm, blizzard, hurricane, tropical storm, or excessive heat warning. The eviction then gets priority within 5 days after the weather clears.
• Seattle: a tenant household at or below 80% of the area median income can raise a defense to eviction from December 1 to March 1. It does not apply to owners with four or fewer rental housing units within Seattle, owner move-ins, sales of single-family homes, or notices for criminal activity, waste, or nuisance.
• Texas: the officer cannot set your belongings outside while it is raining, sleeting, or snowing.
• Weekends and holidays: Massachusetts bars lockouts on Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays and outside 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (G.L. c. 239, s. 3), and New York requires a business day between sunrise and sunset (RPAPL 749).

These rules delay the removal date. They do not cancel the case or the rent you owe.

School-year protections

In Seattle, a household with a child in school, from daycare through high school, or a qualifying school worker can raise a defense to eviction during the Seattle school year, September through June. To qualify as a school worker, you must work at a Seattle school, from childcare through twelfth grade, as an employee or independent contractor of the school or its governing body. It covers most eviction reasons but not owner or family move-ins, city orders closing an unsafe unit, or notices for criminal activity, waste, nuisance, or an imminent hazard. As with Seattle's winter rule, you raise it in court after the landlord files.

How to check what applies to you

1. Look at the notice. Note the reason, the date you received it, and the deadline. A covered property needs 30 days for unpaid rent.
2. Ask about federal backing. Send your landlord a dated email or letter asking whether the property has a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, or USDA mortgage or a federal subsidy, and keep the reply.
3. Check local rules. Search your city or county housing department's site for emergency orders and eviction protections, or call 211. In Seattle, the Renting in Seattle helpline is 206-684-5700.
4. Apply for help with the rent. In Massachusetts, a court must postpone a residential eviction case based solely on unpaid rent caused by financial hardship only if you show the court that a qualifying emergency rental assistance application is pending. You must do this when filing your answer on time or on the scheduled trial date (G.L. c. 239, s. 15); see rent assistance programs for where to apply.
5. Contact legal aid before your court date. A lawyer can tell you whether a federal or local protection fits your building and raise it for you.