A group of landlords are hoping to settle with the federal government over what they say are billions of dollars in losses due to the federal eviction moratorium in place for nearly a year during the pandemic.

President Joe Bidens administration is cutting things close on a nationwide eviction moratorium, which is set to expire in less than a week. Housing advocates are confident the ban, due to expire March 31, will be extended for several months and possibly even strengthened. Last week, Dunn said, a HUD official conducted a call with housing advocates to field opinions on a new, streamlined form that tenants can use in order to gain protection from eviction. “The question is: What is the extension going to look like?”Dunn and others would like to see the moratorium extended and improved. Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package included more than $25 billion in emergency rental assistance, plus more to help tenants who were behind on their utilities, but no extension of the eviction moratorium.

Still, they argue the existing moratorium hasn’t been a blanket protection and say thousands of families have been evicted for other reasons beyond nonpayment of rent. Eric Dunn, director of litigation for the National Housing Law Project, noted signs that a decision has already quietly been made. “The question is: What is the extension going to look like?”Dunn and others would like to see the moratorium extended and improved. Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package included more than $25 billion in emergency rental assistance, plus more to help tenants who were behind on their utilities, but no extension of the eviction moratorium. One of the biggest changes being advocated is for Biden to make the ban's protection's automatic and universal.