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A federal judge has agreed to keep the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) eviction moratorium in place while the Biden administration appeals the judge’s May 5 decision.
U.S District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich said that controlling the spread of COVID-19 is more important than the potential loss of revenue for landlords.
“The magnitude of these additional financial losses is outweighed by the department’s weighty interest in protecting the public,” wrote Judge Friedrich in the decision. “As the federal agency tasked with disease control, the Department, and the CDC in particular, have a strong interest in controlling the spread of COVID-19 and protecting public health.”
“The CDC’s most recent order is supported by observational data analyses that estimate that as many as 433,000 cases of COVID-19 and thousands of deaths could be attributed to the lifting of state-based eviction moratoria,” she added.
“Without this stay, millions of families would be thrown into a spiral of irreparable and devastating harm, COVID-19 rates would spike, and policy interventions, like rental assistance, would be rendered worthless,” Emily Benfer, a law professor at Wake Forest University. “That battle is still on the horizon but, for today, the public health is better protected.”
In May, Judge Friedrich found that the CDC exceeded its authority with the eviction ban.
The CDC’s order, which was enacted in September, protects tenants from being evicted during the pandemic. It runs through next month.
