Congress quietly strips federal eviction protections, returns power to landlords
H.R. 1078 — Respect State Housing Laws Act · Filed by Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) · 58 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 6, 2025 · Reported out
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill removes a federal requirement from the CARES Act that landlords provide notice before evicting tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic. It returns eviction rules to state and local control, allowing states to set their own notice periods and eviction procedures without the federal 30-day notice mandate.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is the removal of a federal eviction-notice mandate, returning housing law to state control. This is functionally a deregulation of landlord obligations and a reduction in tenant protections, despite the title's framing of 'respecting state laws.'
What the text implies
- The title 'Respect State Housing Laws Act' frames the change as federalism, but the practical effect is removal of a pandemic-era tenant protection that was itself a federal floor—not a state override. States retain authority to impose stricter notice requirements, but the bill eliminates the federal minimum.
- CARES Act § 4024(c) was a temporary pandemic measure; its expiration date may have already passed or be imminent. If the subsection is already expired or set to expire, striking it may be largely symbolic—but the bill's intent appears to be permanent removal, not acknowledgment of expiration.
The full analysis lists 3 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
residential landlords and property management companies; real estate investment trusts (REITs); institutional investors in rental housing