Court of Appeals Requires 30-day notice to pay or vacate

Court of Appeals opinion is available here.

Message from our attorney:

NOTE:  The impact of this Court of Appeals decision may reach into other notices that require a resident to vacate as an option to comply with the notice.  You should consider this when serving notices that require a resident to vacate with less than 30 days notice and seek advice from your attorney.

Am I required to use a 30-Day Notice to Pay or Vacate? Click here to answer a few questions to determine if your property is covered by the CARES Act. Covered Property: any property that participates in certain federal housing programs or that has a federal backed mortgage (15 U.S.C. § 9058(a)(2)). Participation in a federal housing program on behalf of any resident makes the entire property a "covered property." That means if there is one participating tenant in a property, then all of the other, non-participating tenants in the same property also qualify as occupant of "covered dwelling" entitled to the notice required by the Act (See 15 U.S.C. § 9058(b); see also Stacy Burleson v. Sun Plaza Ltd. P’ship, No. D-202-CV-02851 (Bernalillo Cty, New Mexico, July 13, 2021), https://www.nhlp.org/wp-content/uploads/NM-Order.pdf).

Finding out whether a 1-4 unit property is covered by the CARES Act Single-family homes and other rental properties with fewer than five units are generally not listed in publicly-available databases that reveal CARES Act coverage. Though Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both maintain lookup tools that borrowers can use to find out if their loans are owned by either enterprise, running a search in either database requires a user to include the last four digits of the borrower’s social security number and check a box confirming the user either owns the property or has the owner’s consent to access the information. Is my loan federally-back? Click here.

For multifamily (i.e., 5+ selling unit) properties, a number of public and private databases are available to look up whether they have coverage.

Fannie Mae Multifamily Lookup Tool

Freddie Mac Multifamily Lookup Tool

Ginnie Mae Multifamily Search Pool Search

NOTE: Please note that errors have been reported when using these public databases. Your most reliable source for whether or not your loan is federally-backed in from your lender or loan servicing company.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Protection for Renters in Federally Subsidized Housing

National Housing Law Project: Enforcing the CARES Act 30-Day Eviction Notice Requirement