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A US federal judge on Wednesday blocked an order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent landlords from evicting their tenants during the coronavirus pandemic.
"The CDC order must be set aside," US District Judge Dabney Friedrich said in a 20-page ruling.
The order was initially announced on September 4 to take effect for the rest of 2020. President Joe Biden on his first day in office extended the order through June 30 to aid struggling tenants through the pandemic's financial fallout.
Friedrich wrote that the ban was among "difficult policy decisions that have had enormous real-world consequences" in the pandemic.
"The question for the Court is a narrow one: Does the Public Health Service Act grant the CDC the legal authority to impose a nationwide eviction moratorium?" the ruling said. "It does not."
Judges in Ohio and Texas have also ruled against enforcing the ban, which has prompted concerns from renters and housing advocates. The Associated Press reported in November that while the nationwide order aimed to protect more than 23 million renters, it often left tenants vulnerable because of uneven enforcement at the state and local levels.
Data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has indicated that about 15% of renters are behind on monthly payments. In December, that figure was about 19%, Insider's Ayelet Sheffey reported.
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