After the CARES Act’s 120-day moratorium on evictions ended, the Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) extended the moratorium, with the CDC’s order based on authority under the Public Health Service Act of 1944. CDC stepped into the landlord-tenant arena to make and enforce regulations necessary to prevent spread of COVID-19, citing 42 U.S.C. § 264(a). Subsequent to CDC’s action, Congress extended the moratorium through January 31, 2021, in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, and CDC then further extended the eviction moratorium, under what was called its Halt Order. 85 Fed. Reg. 55,292.
However, in a suit filed by residential rental property landlords and managers, a panel of the Sixth Circuit held in Tiger Lily, LLC v. United States Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, 2021 WL 3121373 (6th Cir. July 23, 2021), that CDC lacked authority under the Public Health Service Act to impose a nationwide eviction moratorium.
