Supreme court rejects the request to remove the eviction moratorium

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court refused to lift the moratorium on evictions. This ban was imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in response to Covid in order to protect tenants.

The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Brett M. Kavanaugh in the majority.

The court gave no reasons for its ruling. This is typical when it acts on emergency applications. Justice Kavanaugh issued a brief opinion:

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention exceeded its existing statutory authority by issuing a nationwide eviction moratorium,” Justice Kavanaugh wrote. “Because the C.D.C. plans to end the moratorium in only a few weeks, on July 31, and because those few weeks will allow for additional and more orderly distribution of the congressionally appropriated rental assistance funds, I vote at this time to deny the application” that had been filed by landlords, real estate companies and trade associations.

While the moratorium continues until the end of July, this ruling demonstrates the court has no desire to extend further. They simply want to make sure there is time for distribution of rental assistance in July. Landlords are eager for the ability to evict non-paying tenants who do not qualify for the rental assistance. For those who do qualify, Oregon has a plan to offer 80% of lost rent to landlords if they are willing to forgive 20% of unpaid rents. To learn more, check out the website here. Tenants who apply are given 60 days of protections against eviction.