Judge Affirms NAHB Members Exempt from CDC Eviction Moratorium; Other Landlords Are Not

A federal judge has reaffirmed that members of NAHB are exempt from the nationwide eviction moratorium imposed by the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC), but ruled that the exemption only applied to the plaintiffs in the case (including NAHB members) and not to all landlords nationwide. So, although the judge would not grant relief to all landlords across the country, he did make clear the CDC's unlawful action does not apply to NAHB members. Since the case was brought in October 2020, the judge's ruling protects all NAHB members who were members of the association dating back to last October. Those who became new members of NAHB after October 2020 are not exempt under the court order. As NAHBNow posted previously, the association brought a lawsuit against the CDC challenging the eviction moratorium in the federal district court in Ohio. The judge in the case ruled in March that the CDC had exceeded its authority by issuing the eviction moratorium and "set aside" the CDC's regulation. The Department of Justice claimed that the opinion only applied to the plaintiffs in the case, including NAHB's members. In April, NAHB asked for clarification from the court and explained that the law required that the eviction moratorium to be "set aside" nationwide. Unfortunately, the judge failed to vacate the CDC's regulation nationwide. However, he did make clear that his invalidation of the CDC's eviction moratorium "extends to parties, including the members of the National Association of Homebuilders." In other words, the judge reaffirmed that the CDC's federal eviction moratorium does NOT apply to NAHB's members, while ruling that other landlords across the nation must comply with the CDC mandate.