Joe Biden’s new eviction moratorium is set to face its biggest challenge yet: the Supreme Court.
Real estate groups and property owners petitioned to the nation’s highest court on Friday to strike down the ban on evictions, which applies to most of the country. Chief Justice John Roberts has asked the government to respond to the petition by Monday at noon, according to Politico.
The realtors have faced several setbacks in their quest to block the ban. On Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals allowed the ban to stay in place, denying an emergency motion from the Alabama Association of realtors, among others, and prompting the Supreme Court petition.
Earlier this month, a federal judge also declined to strike down the ban, claiming she lacked the authority to do so.
The property owners and realtors may finally find some support in the Supreme Court, though. When the previous moratorium was upheld by a 5-4 majority in the Supreme Court in June, Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested the CDC did not have proper authority for its ban. He also suggested any new moratorium beyond July 31 would not survive without Congressional action.
The Biden administration issued the new moratorium anyway on August 3, in hopes it would allow more time for around $46.5 billion in rent relief to be distributed to landlords and tenants alike. It is set to expire in early October.
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[Politico] — Holden Walter-Warner