WASHINGTON—A federal appeals court on Friday said the Biden administration can continue to enforce its latest eviction moratorium for now, a move that could return the issue to the Supreme Court in a matter of days.
A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined an emergency request by a group of property managers and realtors to lift the new moratorium, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put in place on Aug. 3.
The appeal court’s order was brief and did not offer detailed legal reasoning.
“We are disappointed in today’s ruling, but the plaintiffs will continue fighting on behalf of America’s mom-and-pop housing providers and plan to file an emergency motion to the Supreme Court immediately,” said a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors, which helped fund the legal challenge.
The same court in June rejected a similar bid to block the previous federal ban on evictions. In that earlier order, the D.C. Circuit said the CDC likely acted legally to protect struggling renters during the Covid-19 pandemic.
