National Tenant Eviction Moratorium Halted By: Manufactured Housing Review Staff

During the Spring of 2020, Congress with the approval of the Trump Administration enacted a 120-day tenant eviction moratorium that applied solely to rental properties receiving federal-backed loans or federal renter assistance programs. After that expired, on September 4, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a broader tenant eviction moratorium that applied nationwide to all rental properties. Including extensions issued by both Congress and the CDC, the order was extended through June 30, 2021. The CDC order also added criminal penalties including fines up to $500,000 and jail time up to one year for landlords that violate their edicts. 

The CDC order states that landlords cannot evict non-paying tenants who claim they have a financial hardship and were unsuccessful in applying for government rental assistance. The CDC claimed that public health issues surrounding COVID would be worsened if people could be evicted from their rental homes. 

However, the US District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the CDC does not have the authority to impose a national eviction moratorium. The CDC eviction moratorium is thus no longer in place. The ruling did not address damages suffered by landlords related to uncollected rent and the effective uncompensated taking of their property resulting from the illegal government agency order. The CDC edict was set to expire at the end of 2020, but it was extended through June of 2021. The ruling is effective immediately, but subject to appeal. 

The ruling states, “Because the plain language of the Public Health Service Act unambiguously forecloses on nationwide eviction moratorium, the court must set aside the CDC order.” This ruling applies across the country and follows multiple similar rulings by many lower courts. Authorities from the Biden administration argued in favor of the CDC’s authority to issue this order. They also tried to get the Judge to limit the ruling in favor of only the named plaintiff landlords, the Alabama and Georgia Associations of Realtors et. al., but this effort was unsuccessful, too. The Biden administration has appealed this ruling and is seeking an immediate reinstatement of the ruling pending the outcome of this appeal.

Prior to this Federal decision that currently applies nationwide, some states and jurisdictions had already ruled the CDC’s power grab to be illegal. The government says that the number of renters behind on rent payments is about three times the average. Manufactured home community managers are not reporting that large of an increase in non-paying tenants.

Proponents for the eviction moratorium claim that evictions worsen the spread of COVID. They help make possible local government stay at home orders and guarantee a place to stay for those suffering from the disease or who are at high risk of severe illness from it. 

Proponents against a moratorium on evictions claim they cripple landlords financially, are an unconstitutional taking of their property, and deprive them of their rights of due process and access to the courts. Those against the eviction moratorium further claim that citizens have received ample government assistance intended to help pay rent during the pandemic. Current pending federal legislation purports to provide an additional $50 billion in rental assistance. 

The Manufactured Housing Institute posted this statement on the ruling, “MHI will continue working with its coalition of national housing industry organizations to strongly argue that the current approach of eviction moratoriums is failing to address the scope of damage in the housing sector and will not meet the long-term need of renters and housing providers. We will also continue to urge states to distribute their emergency rental assistance funds as quickly and simply as possible.”