The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, recently filed a complaint and request for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to challenge the authority of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC) nationwide eviction moratorium. The now infamous CDC order was issued on September 4th, 2020 to temporarily stop residential evictions in the name of preventing the further spread of COVID-19. The NCLA’s client is a landlord from Virginia that is suffering significant economic damages, including over $8k in unpaid rent, monthly maintenance costs, damages to his property, and the lost opportunity to use the property or rent it to someone else who would be able to pay the fair market value of at least $925 per month. Indeed…
“CDC’s order is an unprecedented power grab that hurts hardworking people who have done nothing more than try to earn a living renting out their property. An administrative agency has no authority to overrule duly enacted state laws across the country that protect landlords from delinquent tenants when a contract is in place. If CDC can get away with such a brazen abuse, then federal power has no limits.” Said Caleb Kruckenberg, Litigation Counsel, for the NCLA.
Click here to read the full release at the New Civil Liberties Alliance.
Update 9/22: The National Apartment Association has joined the NCLA’s lawsuit against the CDC.
