Taking a public health law implemented to restrict the spread of COVID-19, the Trump administration said Tuesday that it will implement a nation-wide four-month moratorium on residential evictions. Announced by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the moratorium is the administration's latest attempt to deal with the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic absent an agreement with Congress on a comprehensive package that would have the force of law.

To ensure tenants unable to pay rents are not evicted by their landlords, health officials are counting on the 1944 Public Health Service Act, which offers broader quarantine powers to the administration. Slated to run through Dec. 31, the moratorium will apply to individuals earning less than 99,000 a year, as well as those who are unable to make rent or housing payments.

Speaking to reporters, White House spokesman Brian Morgenstern said Trump wants to help hard-working Americans stay in their homes and restrict the spread of the coronavirus. The move garnered a mixed reaction from housing experts.

While some lauded Trump for his commitment to keeping individuals in their homes, others raised concerns about moving back deadlines, potentially setting a large number of people up for evictions in 2021 because they would continue to accumulate back payments throughout the rest of the year, USA Today reported.

It also doesn't consider how the eviction moratorium will impact landlords, who are expected to make their own payments. National Low Income Housing Coalition President and CEO Diane Yentel said the federal government needs to ensure that individuals do not lose their homes amid a still raging pandemic.

Yentel noted that an eviction moratorium is an important move, but deemed it as a half-measure that provides financial relief for renters for a short period, but would create more problem for them when it expires and they are liable to pay back rent as well.

President of the National Multifamily Housing Council Doug Bibby said his organization isn't happy with the administration introducing an eviction moratorium without bankrolling rental and unemployment assistance. The group supports the apartment industry.

Bibby went on to say that an eviction moratorium is more likely to harm the very people it wants to help by making it tougher for housing providers, especially small owners, to take care of their financial obligations and continue to provide shelter to their tenants. President and CEO of the National Apartment Association Bob Pinnegar said his organization and its members were concerned about the recently introduced moratorium.