Supreme Court set to rule on constitutionality of CDC's eviction moratorium extension
Some mom-and-pop landlords with one or two tenants say not being able to evict is emotionally and financially paralyzing; David Spunt reports.
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule any day whether the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) eviction moratorium extension is constitutional.
With millions of Americans struggling to pay rent, the CDC is touting the moratorium that is in effect through Oct. 3. The goal is to keep people off the street during the coronavirus pandemic.
In some cases, mom-and-pop landlords with one or two tenants say not being able to evict is emotionally and financially paralyzing.
"There's a lot of us out there that just need to reclaim our homes for our own personal reasons," landlord Rosanna Morey told Fox News.
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Morey is fighting an aggressive form of blood cancer and tells Fox News she decided not to renew her tenant’s lease in June 2020. Morey and her tenant live in different sections of her Long Island home in New York. She wants her tenant out so family can move in.
"This is not a second-income home. This is not a property that we have that we're making all this money," she said.
Morey’s tenant declared hardship due to COVID-19, and Morey claims she’s now out $16,000 in rent.
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When it comes to the moratorium's constitutionality, even President Biden admits the moratorium might not be legal.
"The bulk of the constitutional scholarship says that it’s not likely to pass constitutional muster," Biden had said in early August.
Biden and his team are still pushing full speed ahead, publicly admitting that the longer the issue is tied up in courts, the longer his team can continue to dole out $45 billion in rental assistance. Records show approximately 89% of that money has not been distributed yet.
In August, more than 3.5 million people said they faced eviction by October, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Morey says she doesn’t want to evict for money – she simply wants her home back.
"I should be able to reclaim my home when I want to," she said.
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The U.S. Department of Justice wants to keep the moratorium in place. Attorney General Merrick Garland recently met with chief justices from 35 states' highest courts to discuss eviction diversion methods.
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