By: Richard L. Oller, Esq.
A federal court in the Eastern District of Texas has declared the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) temporary eviction moratorium unconstitutional. The moratorium, which had been issued by the CDC, prohibits property owners from ousting tenants meeting certain criteria who are unable to pay their rent.
The CDC order would have expired at the end of December, but was extended as part of the second stimulus package signed by President Biden.
The moratorium order is invoked when a tenant gives their landlord a signed declaration asserting that they meet specific requirements — including that they earn less than $100,000 a year, have experienced a significant loss of income and have made their best effort to find rental assistance to pay their rent.
Under the moratorium order, rent is not canceled or forgiven and landlords can evict tenants after the moratorium ends if they are not able to pay the back rent.
The court concluded that the federal government’s Article I Constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce and enact laws necessary and proper to that end does not include the power to impose an eviction moratorium.
The court’s decision only impacts the parties in that particular case. The CDC has now filed an appeal.