A group of progressive lawmakers including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders sent letters to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and private landlord associations on Wednesday demanding an immediate nationwide moratorium on evictions as individuals and families struggle with the massive financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Evicting families from their homes in the middle of a pandemic is cruel and dangerous," reads the letter (pdf) to Housing Secretary Ben Carson. "HUD must avoid the risk of exacerbating a public health emergency and protect the safety of renters."

Joining Warren and Sanders in signing the letter were Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.).

"Families already living on the margin are now facing the threat of increased economic vulnerability due to COVID-19 and may soon be in danger of missing a rent payment."

—Lawmakers' letter

The lawmakers called on Carson to move immediately to implement a "moratorium on evictions for individuals living in HUD-assisted rental housing, public housing, and for Housing Choice Voucher recipients."

More than 10 million people in the U.S. live in federally-assisted housing, and they are disproportionately older and lower-income—groups that are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 and the economic fallout it is causing.

"Families already living on the margin are now facing the threat of increased economic vulnerability due to COVID-19 and may soon be in danger of missing a rent payment," the letter states. "Nearly a quarter of U.S. civilian workers have no access to paid sick leave, and may lack the ability to take days off without being fired."

In separate letters to the National Rental Home Council (pdf) and the American Apartment Owners Association (pdf), two of the nation's largest private landlord associations, the lawmakers called on the groups to work with their private-sector partners and implement "an immediate moratorium on all eviction proceedings in rental homes and offer deferred rent payment options with no late fees to tenants impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak."

"Evicting families puts their health at risk, imposes trauma on and disrupts the education of their children, and exacerbates the risk of outbreak in their communities," read the letters. "Even as government actors work to get the necessary resources to our neighbors experiencing homelessness, private sector partners should avoid exacerbating the problem by evicting tenants during a pandemic."

The letters come a week after Warren and Merkley called on (pdf) President Donald Trump to issue a nationwide moratorium on all evictions and foreclosures for properties owned or insured by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs, or the Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service.

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Read the full letter to HUD below: