The Dec. 31 date to end a federal order against evictions will be "catastrophic" unless it's extended, housing experts said.

As congressional negotiators work on a second coronavirus relief bill, housing officials are concerned for people at risk of losing their homes after falling behind on payments as a result of the pandemic.

National Low Income Housing Coalition President Diane Yentel told CBS News if the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention order banning evictions until year’s end expires, millions of renters could be removed from their homes.

"If the moratorium expires, there will be no protections left keeping them from being pushed out into the streets,” said Yentel, who added some state and federal eviction limits implemented over the summer have largely expired.

Eviction filings spiked after bans ended in several states. That could happen nationally if the CDC order were to lapse.

"If the federal government doesn't intervene," Yentel said, "we're looking at the very real possibility of tens of millions of people losing their homes during this winter, during the height of COVID-19, and the consequences of that would be catastrophic."

The second stimulus package being discussed presently includes a one-month extension of the CDC order. The Washington Post reported at least one senator has questioned whether the extension is needed.

About 1 in 5 renter households are currently behind on rent, according to Census Bureau figures. 

A spike in evictions would affect Black and Latino families the hardest, researchers said.

Emily Benfer, a visiting professor of law at Wake Forest University, recently told reporters what she thinks likely will happen if the eviction ban is not extended.

"The eviction machine will rev up very quickly," Benfer said. "Once those evictions start to occur, we will see a spread in COVID-19 cases and death.''

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