An ongoing legal battle between a federal health agency and multifamily landlords over the rollout of a national eviction moratorium is gaining steam and thousands of new plaintiffs.
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Three individual landlords and the 85,000-member strong National Apartment Association joined a lawsuit against the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance initially filed the suit after the CDC issued a national eviction moratorium effective Sept. 4 on the grounds that removing tenants from apartments during a pandemic could foster the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The parties suing the CDC claim the federal agency has no authority to enact rules that upend existing state law, particularly without legislative approval.
The NAA, which represents 85,000 members managing apartments, is jumping into the suit a few weeks after the NCLA first asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to restrain the CDC from enforcing the moratorium.
The new plaintiffs claim they are suffering financially with thousands of dollars in back rent owed by tenants who have not paid them in months.
“Since we filed our lawsuit, NCLA has received an overwhelming response from people across the country who have been harmed by CDC's national eviction order,” NCLA Litigation Counsel Caleb Kruckenberg said in a statement. “This speaks to the serious damage caused by CDC’s lawless effort to rewrite the law. We are thrilled to represent the members of the NAA and the brave property owners who are standing up to this abuse of power.”
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