Twenty-Three US State Attorneys General Ask Supreme Court To Extend Ban On Evictions

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th June, 2021) The attorneys general representing 22 US states and the District of Columbia have filed a motion asking the US Supreme Court to extend a Federal ban on evictions due to COVID-19 that is to expire on June 30.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mooted the moratorium on evictions last year at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and the Trump administration embraced the move. The Biden administration has expressed hope that the order will be extended.

The 23 attorneys general said in the petition that a continued ban on evictions was necessary "to prevent the forced displacement of vulnerable residents and limit the spread of COVID-19 across state lines."

According to the US government, up to 40 million American renters are at risk of eviction and at least 4 million are at "imminent risk."

Earlier this year, a coalition of property owners, property managers, and trade associations filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the moratorium, threatening to trigger an unprecedented wave of evictions in states and local communities that lack their own protections for tenants.

Following that lawsuit, the US District Court for the District of Columbia made a preliminary ruling on May 5 that the CDC had overstepped its authority in imposing the eviction moratorium. But the court also stayed its decision on the moratorium itself, keeping it in place pending appeal to prevent harm to renters.

In their support of the CDC, the state attorneys general urged the US Supreme Court to leave the stay in place, arguing that an immediate dissolution of the moratorium would force millions of vulnerable individuals from their homes into the streets, into crowded shelters, or into contact with family and friends within or across state lines in the midst of a pandemic.