Judge overturns CDC evictions ban

In September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put in place a moratorium to protect tenants from eviction during the pandemic. On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, agreed with a group of real estate agents and property owners that the CDC did not have the authority to issue the nationwide ban. The Justice Department is appealing a similar decision that a Texas court handed down in February.

What effect will this decision have? Other judges ruled against the moratorium but limited their decisions to the plaintiffs in each case. Friedrich refused to narrow the scope of her ruling, thus striking down the ban nationwide. The decision will not affect local eviction bans that various states and cities have enacted.

Dig deeper: Read my report in Compassion on the long-term consequences of eviction moratoriums.