GREAT NEWS
Another federal court has found that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Eviction Moratorium is unconstitutional. A United States District Judge, District of Columbia, wrote a 20-page order finding that the CDC acted in excess of its authority in issuing the moratorium. The judge wrote that it is, “ORDERED that the nationwide eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and currently in effect at 86 Fed. Reg. 16,731, is VACATED.”
READ THE FULL DECISION/ANALYSIS HERE.
The judge specifically ruled that the decision was not only limited to the parties before the court, but the ruling was silent as to whether it applies outside of the District of Columbia. In our reading, the court appears to have struck down the moratorium throughout the entire country.
This is likely incredible news for property owners.
We expect that the Department of Justice will appeal the ruling and seek to stay it. The appellate court will then have to decide whether to enter an order that would keep the moratorium in place until they have reviewed the entire case or if they will leave the order as is, which would likely end the moratorium. Therefore, this ruling is not the final end to the CDC Order, but it is a significant step forward for property owners.
It is also important to note that even if the CDC order is struck down, the recent CFPB order that requires certain language to be given to tenants (effective May 3, 2021), will NOT automatically be struck down. There would be no eviction moratoria in Arizona, but there would be in other states (for example, New York just extended their moratorium through 8/31/21). Therefore, until further information is given, we still advise all clients to serve tenants with the extra CFPB language, even though it ultimately may not apply.
For now, we are not changing our policies until we hear from the appellate court and the Arizona Supreme Court whose administrative orders control how evictions proceed in Arizona.
Zona Law Group P.C.