WASHINGTON – A group of real estate managers and real estate agents asked the Supreme Court to block the new moratorium on the eviction of the Biden administration on Friday, filing papers hours after a federal appeals court rejected its challenge to politics pandemic relief.
The move followed a three-judge decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which rejected an emergency request by real estate interests to lift the moratorium that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed in August. 3. The order of the appellate court was brief and did not offer detailed legal reasoning.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday afternoon that the administration believes the CDC’s new moratorium “is an appropriate use of its lawful authority to protect public health.” In a statement, he said the White House is pleased that the appellate court has launched a moratorium that “keeps Americans under pressure at home.”
The same appellate court in June rejected a similar offer to block the previous federal ban on evictions. In that earlier order, the DC Circuit said the CDC probably acted legally to protect tenants who were in trouble during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Supreme Court, in late June, voted 5 to 4 votes, allowing the latest version of the moratorium to remain in effect until it expired on its own terms in late July. But the court also noted that CDC would be on weak legal ground if it attempted a new ban on evictions without Congressional permission.