Larisa Bowman (’11), Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Iowa’s College of Law, coauthored an opinion for CNN discussing pre-Covid and current factors placing tenants at increased risk of eviction and expanding the eviction ban beyond Biden’s recent executive order extending it through March 31st (“The Eviction Ban Should Remain in Effect Long after the Pandemic Is Over,” Jan. 22). “Any tenant who has experienced either a ‘substantial loss of household income’ or ‘extraordinary out-of-pocket medical expenses,’ and meets the other requirements, is eligible. Why can’t tenants always be protected from eviction in these kinds of situations? Why should eviction ever be the response when tenants can’t pay rent due to circumstances beyond their control? State and local jurisdictions, which normally regulate when eviction is permissible, could and should prevent these forced displacements—as a matter of basic fairness.”