Real-Estate Interests Ask Supreme Court to Block Biden’s Eviction Moratorium
WASHINGTON—A group of property managers and real-estate agents asked the Supreme Court to block the Biden administration’s new eviction moratorium Friday, filing papers hours after a federal appeals court rejected their challenge to the pandemic-relief policy.
The move followed a decision by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which declined an emergency request by the real-estate interests to lift the moratorium that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed on Aug. 3. The appellate court’s order was brief and didn’t offer detailed legal reasoning.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The same appeals court in June rejected a similar bid to block the previous federal ban on evictions. In that earlier order, the D.C. Circuit said the CDC likely acted legally to protect struggling renters during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Supreme Court in late June, on a 5-4 vote, allowed the last version of the moratorium to remain in place until it expired on its own terms at the end of July. But the court also signaled the CDC would be on weak legal ground if it attempted a further ban on evictions without authorization from Congress.
