Judge Strikes Down CDC’s National Moratorium on Evictions
- Ruling is setback for Biden efforts to ease pandemic impact
- Mom-and-pop landlords hit hardest by lack of rent payments
A constable signs an eviction order in Phoenix, Arizona on Oct. 7, 2020.
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A federal judge blocked a nationwide eviction moratorium that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established last year as Covid-19 lockdowns put millions of renters out of work.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington said the agency exceeded its authority by issuing a broad moratorium on evictions across all rental properties. “The CDC order must be set aside,” she said in a 20-page opinion on Wednesday. In recent months, others judges issued more limited rulings blocking the ban in certain jurisdictions. Friedrich’s decision goes further, saying the entire ban should be overturned nationwide.