This post was updated at 6:10 p.m.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday that the state’s Supreme Court granted his request to extend a halt on evictions through Sept. 7 as tenants struggle to pay rent amid a slumping economy and diminished federal assistance.

“As the ongoing Congressional stalemate leaves Virginians without federal housing protection, this is a critical step towards keeping families safely in their homes,” Northam wrote on Twitter.

An earlier moratorium of evictions expired in June, and Northam had encouraged local courts to decide whether or not to extend the pause. On July 24, the day a federal moratorium on evictions expired, Northam urged Virginia Chief Justice Donald Lemons to suspend eviction proceedings, saying it would give his administration time to develop new laws to prevent evictions when lawmakers meet in an August 18 special session.

Mary Paden, chairwoman of the housing committee at the Fairfax County NAACP, said she was overjoyed to learn of the decision.

“To have people being thrown out on the streets when they’re the most vulnerable economically and healthwise is just a very bad situation that we want to avoid,” she said.

Tenant advocates had urged Northam to extend a state-level eviction pause that expired June 28, saying the federal stay only applied to properties subsidized or backed by the U.S. government. Northam resisted that call, and instead allocated $50 million from the federal CARES Act to rent relief. He said in late July that his administration processed payments to 467 households, and acknowledged a chasm between what he could offer and what tenants needed.

“Not all tenants have access to federal or state eviction protections, and many more are either not yet aware or are working to obtain assistance through our rent relief program,” Northam wrote in his request to Chief Justice Lemons. “Further, many tenants may be ineligible for the rent relief assistance due to federal restrictions.”

Landlords smarted at the new moratorium.

“We are the only industry out there, that we’re aware of right now, that’s been asked to continue providing a service without receiving compensation,” said Brian Gordon, Virginia Vice President of Government Affairs with the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington. The group’s members own and manage 155,728 multifamily residential units in Northern Virginia.

Gordon said ABOA members had worked with tenants to reduce rent and offer payment plans, but said the costs were mounting for landlords who were still on the hook for their own mortgage payments, taxes and utilities.

Patrick Algyer, executive director at the Northern Virginia Apartment Association, estimated that most of owners and managers of more than 50,000 residential units he represents were not eligible for relief on their mortgages because they were privately backed. Algyer said his group was participating in “a very unofficial work group” with Northern Virginia local jurisdictions, area nonprofits, and representatives from the State of Virginia “to come up with new ways to help everybody.”

Nationally, 95.9% of rent payments were paid by the end of June, which is nearly identical to the 2019 figures, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council. However, that figure will likely drop after federal pandemic unemployment relief ended in late July.

Other jurisdictions have also made efforts to protect tenants during the pandemic. Evictions are still banned in D.C. In Maryland, an executive order shields tenants from evictions, although landlords can sue for nonpayment. Landlords sued three Maryland jurisdictions after they passed local laws to prevent rent increases, according to Maryland Matters.

The announcement of Virginia’s new moratorium comes after legal wrangling. In mid-July, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring issued an opinion saying that Northam had the authority to pause evictions. Still, Northam requested the state Supreme Court issue the stay. Spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said Northam took the step because, “an executive order in this specific case is legally difficult, and would likely raise legal complexities that would hinder the expediency needed to help Virginians.”

This post has been updated with comment from Mary Paden, Brian Gordon and Patrick Algyer.