Lawsuits Threaten Future Of CDC Eviction Moratorium

The wave of litigation challenging the eviction moratorium issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is resulting in disparate rulings across the country, prompting divergent applications and casting uncertainty on the moratorium’s future.

The temporary halt to residential evictions, which protects renters from eviction and keeps them out of congregate settings like homeless shelters, was recently extended until June 30. The CDC policy is facing a wealth of legal challenges leveled by landlords, property owners and trade associations as they push to recover properties from nonpaying tenants and as at least 8.8 million households find themselves behind on rent more than a year into the pandemic.

The district courts’ wide-ranging legal interpretations of the constitutional and statutory claims brought against the moratorium are leaving state courts with inconsistent guidance on how to handle eviction cases, according to Emily Benfer, visiting law professor at Wake Forest University and chair of the American Bar Association‘s Eviction Committee.

Read the full article here.

April 19, 2021