Judge voids U.S. moratorium on evicting renters during pandemic
By Jonathan Stempel
Reuters
(Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday threw out the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s nationwide moratorium on evictions, a setback for the millions of Americans who have fallen behind on rent payments during the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich said that while there was no doubt Congress intended to empower the CDC to combat COVID-19 through a range of measures such as quarantines, a moratorium on residential evictions was not among them.
Friedrich cited the plain language of a law called the Public Health Service Act, which governs the federal response to the spread of communicable diseases, even while acknowledging that the pandemic is a serious public health crisis that has presented unprecedented challenges for public health officials and the nation.
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WASHINGTON – A federal judge temporarily stayed an order that found the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention exceeded its authority when it imposed a federal eviction moratorium to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The stay, issued late Wednesday, came after the Justice Department filed an emergency appeal in the case. The administrative stay means there will be no immediate impact on the ban, which was extended in March to go through the end of June.
The judge said issuing the stay was not based on the merits of the Justice Department s argument but instead is meant to give the court time to consider the motion and any potential opposition.
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The Department of Justice has appealed the decision.
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By the Numbers: Eviction moratorium set to end as millions fall behind on rent
Despite congressional approval of billions of dollars in COVID-19 rental relief, many struggling renters are still waiting for aid to arrive. Rob Schumacher/The Republic via USA Today Network
A D.C. district judge ruled Wednesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not have the authority to uphold a federal eviction moratorium, which was put in place to prevent those behind on rent because of the pandemic from being evicted from their homes.
Attorney Melton in front of his home in Dallas. Melton has formed a group made up of volunteer attorneys to help people avoid evictions if they can t pay rent due to the pandemic. Photos: AP
Not long after he began posting advice last year for people facing eviction during the pandemic, Mark Melton found himself inundated with phone calls and messages.
“It became apparent really quickly that this was going to be too much of a job for one person, ” said Melton, a Dallas tax attorney who decided to study up on eviction law as Covid-19 began taking an economic toll on Texas residents.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – A federal judge has thrown out a national moratorium on evictions enacted last year to help Americans who have fallen behind on their rent during the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich of the District of Columbia ruled Wednesday the federal government overreached in enacting the ban.
“The court recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious public health crisis that has presented unprecedented challenges for public health officials and the nation as a whole,” Friedrich wrote in a 20-page decision. “The pandemic has triggered difficult policy decisions that have had enormous real-world consequences. The nationwide eviction moratorium is one such decision.”