In a flagrant attack on private property owners earlier this week, President Joe Biden defied a Supreme Court ruling and directed the Centers for Disease Control to extend an unconstitutional eviction moratorium for an additional 60-days.
.@POTUS on targeted eviction moratorium: "The courts already ruled on the present eviction moratorium... I asked the CDC to go back and consider other options that may be available. You're going to hear from them what those other options are." https://t.co/83m7FGb0vD pic.twitter.com/4TB7k4SaCT
— The Hill (@thehill) August 4, 2021
Now, owners are fighting back and suing the administration over the move. From POLITICO:
Trade groups representing property owners late Wednesday sued to block a new federal eviction moratorium that President Joe Biden himself warned this week was on shaky legal ground.
The Alabama and Georgia chapters of the National Association of Realtors filed a motion in federal court to vacate the ban that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered Tuesday. The same groups led a legal challenge against the prior federal eviction moratorium that expired Saturday — a lawsuit that prompted the Supreme Court to cast doubt on the CDC's authority.
The real estate groups — which have warned that their members are facing substantial financial losses from the moratorium — said in a legal filing that the CDC caved to a "tidal wave of political pressure" from outraged Democrats when it revived the eviction ban despite clear warnings from judges who said the agency lacked the power to enforce it.
A coalition of 11 housing industry groups — including the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Home Builders — said in a statement Wednesday evening that they opposed the new ban and that “the administration itself noted it lacks the legal authority for a more targeted eviction moratorium.”
"About half of all housing providers are mom-and-pop operators," National Association of Realtors President Charlie Oppler said. "Without rental income, they cannot pay their own bills or maintain their properties."
A landlord advocacy group sued prior to Biden's extension of the moratorium in an effort to reclaim previous damages. From Bloomberg:
A landlords’ lobbyist said it sued the U.S. government to recover damages the organization claims its members suffered as a result of a federal moratorium on evictions.
The National Apartment Association filed the lawsuit Tuesday at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, the organization said in a statement. The complaint wasn’t immediately available on the court’s electronic docket.
The NAA claims that by the end of last year, more than 10 million delinquent tenants owed $57 billion in unpaid rent. Apartment owners are now responsible for $27 billion of debt not covered by federal rental assistance, the group argues.
The moratorium issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control last year has hurt landlords who provide critical rental housing, and “sets a dangerous precedent for future disaster-response measures,” according to the complaint. Property owners forced to maintain their properties were unfairly prohibited from evicting tenants not paying rent, and from renting to paying tenants, according to the suit.
During the White House briefing Wednesday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki doubled down on Biden's disregard for the constitution and attack on private property rights.
More Portnoy: "He speaks often about democracy versus autocracy. He's issuing or overseeing this order from the CDC in the face of doubts about its constitutionality...He didn't call Congress back. He asked Congress to act. It didn't How do you square all that?" pic.twitter.com/fOXZxuoeST
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 4, 2021
