Andrii Zastrozhnov©/ Adobe Stock
State Associations Renew Effort to Block Eviction Ban About half of all housing providers are mom-and-pop operators, and without rental income, they cannot pay their own bills or maintain their properties. By The National Association of Realtors® Realtors® are stepping in to stop another extension of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium, which exposes housing providers to further income loss. The Alabama and Georgia state REALTOR® associations—along with two housing providers and their property management companies— filed an emergency motion Wednesday night in federal court to block enforcement of the extension, which the CDC announced late Tuesday. Though the CDC’s order through Oct. 3 appears to be narrower in scope, affecting only those areas with high COVID-19 transmission, it still covers about 90% of renters in the country and could increase to 100% with higher rates of infection. The Alabama and Georgia associations have been involved in an ongoing legal battle since
18 | Salt Lake Realtor ® | August 2021
last November to strike down the eviction ban and support the rights of property owners. The Supreme Court weighed in on the case this summer, saying the CDC couldn’t extend the moratorium beyond July 31 without Congressional approval of new legislation. Congress tried and failed to pass an extension bill last week, which NAR opposed. The two Realtor® associations are now asking a U.S. District Court judge to uphold the Supreme Court’s interpretation. The Department of Justice argues in court filings that this is a new eviction moratorium, not an extension of an existing one, and is necessary to continue helping struggling renters as spread of the Delta variant explodes in the U.S. But housing providers say the moratorium, which the CDC first put in place last September, has cost
