President Joe Biden (Getty)
Renters are breathing a collective sigh of relief after a federal judge ruled that the CDC’s eviction moratorium will stay in place … for now.
Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled on Friday that she didn’t have the authority to block the new targeted moratorium, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The judge argued that a previous ruling that said the CDC had the authority for a moratorium based on the public health crisis precluded her from rendering a decision. But in her 13-page opinion, Friedrich allowed for the possibility of a higher court striking down the measure.
Earlier this week, the judge hinted at her eventual ruling. The extension was put in place on Aug. 3, and is set to expire Oct. 3. It covers around 90 percent of the country where Covid cases are high.
A group of real estate agents and property managers challenged the new moratorium almost immediately; landlords have also suffered during the pandemic, unable to collect rent from some tenants and falling deeper into debt.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh previously suggested a new moratorium may not hold up if it was not authorized by Congress. The Biden administration pushed across the moratorium extension anyway in hopes of delaying mass evictions as the government continues to roll out $47 billion in rent aid.
[WSJ] — Holden Walter-Warner
