Background:
In November 2020, the Georgia Association of REALTORS® (GAR), along with the Alabama Association of REALTORS® (AAR), two housing providers and their property management companies - with assistance from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) - filed a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on behalf of housing providers nationwide. This lawsuit challenged the validity of the CDC’s eviction moratorium, claiming that the CDC acted outside its authority by imposing the order.
On June 29, 2021, five justices on the U.S. Supreme Court agreed the CDC lacked the authority to implement a nationwide eviction moratorium. However, the Court also determined that the moratorium should remain in place until its expiration date on July 31, resulting in the request to vacate the stay brought by housing providers being denied.
After letting the previous eviction moratorium expire on July 31, 2021, the CDC on August 3, 2021, reimposed a ban on evictions effective through October 3, 2021. On August 4, 2021, GAR and AAR filed an emergency motion with Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asking her to enforce the U.S. Supreme Court’s order that the CDC could not extend the moratorium without new legislation.
On Friday, August 13, the motion was denied on technical and procedural grounds, but the court confirmed its opinion that the CDC is unlikely to succeed on the merits.
Having confidence that that this unlawful eviction moratorium will come to an end sooner than later, we are planning to return to the D.C. Circuit Court soon, and to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Moving Forward:
Housing providers, including the millions of mom-and-pop property owners across the country, consider eviction as a last resort and continue to look for ways to avoid evicting renters whenever possible.
NAR has always maintained that the best solution for all parties is rental assistance paid directly to housing providers, which would cover bills for tenants struggling as a result of the pandemic and at the same time, provide small mom-and-pop property owners with the rental income they’ve been missing to pay their own bills and maintain their properties.
With rental assistance secured, the economy strengthening, and unemployment rates falling, there is no need to continue a blanket, nationwide eviction ban. Our focus now is on the swift and full implementation of rental assistance as we aim to regain stability and normalcy in America's housing market.
Below are links that provide access to several resources available for both parties.
We are urging our members to help us spread the word on rental assistance relief for both landlords and tenants.
RENTAL ASSISTANCE RESOURCES:
LAWSUIT BACKGROUND:
