Alabama Association of Realtors Successfully Challenges the Federal Eviction Moratorium

Yesterday, yet another court held that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) exceeded its authority by issuing a nationwide eviction moratorium in September 2020 and extending it until June 30, 2021. The Alabama Association of  Realtors filed a legal challenge to the CDC eviction moratorium in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the court found that the Department of Health & Human Services' interpretation of the Public Health Service Act "goes too far." The court explained that to find for the CDC, it would have to ignore the text and structure of the statute. Therefore, as in NAHB's successful lawsuit in Ohio, the court found that the CDC exceeded the authority provided by Congress. The U.S. district court also addressed whether the CDC order should be set aside only with respect to the plaintiffs in the case or nationwide. The court explained that when regulations are found unlawful, the "ordinary result is that the rules are vacated—not that their application to the individual petitioner is proscribed." The Department of Justice has already filed a notice of appeal of the decision and will likely seek a stay of the U.S. district court's ruling. For more information, contact Tom Ward.