Shivani Pandey –
Published on August 05, 2021, at 02:44 PM
Landlord and Realtor groups approached a Federal Court on Wednesday late night requesting it to instantly lift the new eviction moratorium put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In an emergency filing in a D.C. Federal Court, landlord groups led by the Alabama Association of Realtors argued that the CDC’s move to ban evictions is “unlawful.”
“The CDC knew that the White House had repeatedly stated that new legislation was necessary to extend the moratorium, given the absence of executive legal authority. Congress tried but failed, to enact a legislative extension in reliance on those representations. Yet rather than accept that as the final word under our constitutional system (which the White House initially appeared to do), the CDC extended the moratorium anyway,” the realtor groups argued in the filing.
Earlier on Wednesday, the CDC issued an order to halt evictions for nonpayment of rent in U.S. territory with substantial or high levels of Covid-19 transmission until October 3.
The slightly narrower new order applies to more than 80% of U.S. territories, including virtually every territory in California and the southeastern United States as well as large swaths of the East Coast and Midwest.
In a statement, the agency said its move will allow “additional time for rent relief to reach renters and to further increase vaccination rates.”
The CDC’s moratorium—which first came into effect in September last year—bars landlords from removing most tenants due to nonpayment of rent. A legal challenge against the order narrowly failed in the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling back in June.
But one of the five judges who agreed not to strike down the ban—Justice Brett Kavanaugh—implied that he still thought that the CDC’s policy was illegal and said any future extensions would need “clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation).”
Also read: Joe Biden permits Eviction Moratorium will expire on Saturday