Judge Strikes Down CDC’s Ban on Evictions; DOJ Plans to Appeal

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s moratorium on evictions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic took another turn yesterday, with a District Court judge in the District of Columbia ruling that the agency overstepped its bounds by saying that individuals could not be evicted during the pandemic. The ruling occurred on the same day that a rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was published in the Federal Register that prohibits collectors from evicting individuals without first providing them with a “clear and conspicuous” written notice detailing the protections that those individuals have under the CDC’s moratorium.

Earlier this week, the CFPB was sued over the rule by a group of landlords who claim they are being forced to lie about the lawfulness and availability of their rights under the moratorium when providing the notifications.

Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was appointed to the federal bench by former President Trump, joined a number of her colleagues in ruling the CDC does not have the authority to halt evictions from taking place.

“The question for the Court is a narrow one: Does the Public Health Service Act grant the CDC the legal authority to impose a nationwide eviction moratorium?” Friedrich wrote. “It does not.”

Judge Freidrich’s ruling differed from others who have ruled against the CDC, saying that her decision should affect not just the plaintiffs in the case before her, but all landlords nationwide.

The CDC’s order, which has been extended several times, was recently extended through June 30. It generally made it a crime for any landlord to evict a tenant as long as the tenant met certain criteria, such as falling below income thresholds, an inability to to obtain government housing or find somewhere else to live, and that the tenant used best efforts to pay what he or she could. Those who violated the order faced prison and fines of up to $500,000.

The Department of Justice said yesterday that it plans to appeal the ruling.

“The Department of Justice respectfully disagrees with today’s decision … concluding that the moratorium exceeds CDC’s statutory authority to protect public health,” said Brian Boynton, a DOJ attorney, in a statement

. “In the department’s view, that decision conflicts with the text of the statute, Congress’s ratification of the moratorium, and the rulings of other courts.”