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> How is living at a property without paying for it any different than walking out of Walmart without paying for bread?

The difference is that failing to pay the rent isn't a crime.

Furthermore, according to the article

> The CDC has ordered a moratorium on evictions amid COVID-19 — making it illegal for landlords to force out tenants who can't afford rent during the pandemic

Which makes a certain number of evictions illegal at first place.

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Maliciously failing to pay should be a crime, in my lowly opinion. It's one thing if you lose your job, but some folks out there are living and working like usual, while simply withholding rent because they can. Obviously this hurts impressions of those who seriously need and deserve the help. Shameful, but some have no shame...

The article is incorrect about the CDC eviction moratorium as it makes it sound to be some automatic thing. The tenants needs to file a letter (template is at bottom of CDC order) to the landlord or court and only after that they “might” be covered by the moratorium. It’s still up to the court to make the final decision.

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