The number of landlords seeking federal compensation for losses due to a pandemic-era eviction moratorium has grown by more than 75% since the spring.
:quality(75))
More than 2,600 landlords are now part of the Darby Development Co. Inc. v. United States lawsuit, according to the latest filing in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims case. Legal teams are negotiating a settlement that could require the federal government to pay around $1B to the plaintiffs, Multifamily Dive reported.
The property owners suing the government initially sought $26B in restitution, arguing that the nearly yearlong federal eviction moratorium violated their Fifth Amendment rights. A federal court dismissed the case in 2022, but an appeals court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in 2025.
The landlords estimated eviction moratorium losses across the multifamily industry in the tens of billions of dollars, according to the lawsuit. In May, the complaint included more than 1,500 property owners.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to Bisnow’s request for comment on the case.
Most of the property owners listed in the plaintiff spreadsheet included with the latest filing have fewer than 1,000 units, but several have much larger portfolios.
Among the landlords added to the lawsuit in the most recent filing is Florida-based American Landmark. The company’s 32,561 units across six states constitute the largest portfolio among all plaintiffs.
The next two largest additions to the lawsuit are Las Vegas-based firms Advanced Management Group and Ovation Property Management. Each has portfolios of around 8,500 units.
The eviction moratorium was put in place during President Donald Trump’s first term and lasted from September 2020 to July 2021, when former President Joe Biden was in office. Numerous cities and 43 states enacted longer bans.
The deadline for additional landlords to join the Darby Development suit has passed, according to Multifamily Dive. However, Anna Wills, an associate at law firm Duane Morris, told the publication that the appeals court ruling could allow for additional claims against the federal government over the eviction moratorium.
“Part of the reason this case is so interesting is because the eviction moratorium temporarily removed one of the key sticks in the bundle of rights of property ownership: the right to exclude,” Wills said. “The majority determined that constituted a physical taking of the property, as opposed to a regulatory one, which is generally much harder to prove.”
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)