NLIHC joined Martin Siegel, Connect Community, Come Dream Come Build, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matthew Desmond in an amicus brief supporting the reversal of the Federal District Court of Eastern Texas’ ruling in Terkel v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that the federal eviction moratorium violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution (see Memo, 3/1). Following the ruling, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal and announced that the moratorium remains in effect for all landlords other than the specific landlords and renters in the legal case.
The court’s decision rested largely on its conclusion that evictions are not economic events. The amicus brief filed in support of reversing the Terkel v. CDC decision details the multiple financial aspects of an eviction, making the case that evictions are therefore economic events and, as a result, the moratorium falls within the scope of the federal government’s authority. In addition to describing how an eviction is inherently a commercial process, the brief pulls from research, including Desmond’s groundbreaking study of evictions, to outline how evictions directly cause and suppress other related commerce. Renters must engage in commerce after eviction, for example, by transacting with new landlords or with residents of congregate housing. Evicted tenants who must secure new housing are often forced to forgo other basic needs like clothing, food, or medical care. Evictions often negatively impact employment and affect evicted tenants’ purchasing power, potentially forcing tenants to rely on high-interest payday loans at greater rates.
Several court rulings have attempted to strike down the moratorium, including U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich’s May 5 ruling that the CDC overstepped its legal authority by issuing a nationwide eviction moratorium (see additional article in this edition of Memo). There are now numerous conflicting court rulings at the district court level, with several judges ruling in favor of the moratorium and several ruling against it.
Read the amicus brief at: https://bit.ly/3elGjA2
Learn more about the CDC’s eviction moratorium at: https://bit.ly/2SnASIk