By Mel Dorman, August 3, 2021
A U.S. appeals court ruled on July 23 that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lacked authority for the national moratorium it imposed last year on most residential evictions to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling means judges in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan are no longer bound by the moratorium, said Joshua Kahane, the lawyer who argued the case for a property manager.
The decision upheld a lower court ruling in March that found the CDC overstepped its authority when it issued the moratorium last year, saying authority to deal with evictions during the pandemic could not be delegated to the CDC under existing law.
“While landlords and tenants likely disagree on much, there is one thing both deserve: for their problems to be resolved by their elected representatives,” wrote Judge Thapar in a concurring opinion.
The moratorium is set to expire on July 31 and the Biden administration said in June it would not grant further extensions.
The CDC issued a national eviction ban on all residential rental properties in September to facilitate self-isolation, contain the spread of COVID-19 and prevent homelessness after the expiration of a narrower previous ban enacted by Congress.
The CDC’s moratorium has been extended three times, once by Congress and twice by the agency itself.
Mel Dorman
Broker | OR & WA
She/They
Ten years ago, Melissa was living in a slum in Kolkata, India, helping over 200 women escape sex trafficking by providing alternative work at a social business...
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