U.S. Supreme Court lifts ban on evictions

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WASHINGTON, Aug 26 - The Supreme Court of the U.S. Federal District Court ended the pandemic-related moratorium on residential evictions imposed by President Joe Biden's administration in a challenge to the policy brought by a coalition of landlords and real estate trade groups.

The justices, who had left https: www.reuters.com world us - the supreme - court permanent - cdcs-pandemic - related - residential eviction-ban - 2021 06 - 29 an expired ban in June, granted a request by the challengers to lift the moratorium by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention that was to have run until Oct. 3.

The challengers argued that the law to which the CDC relied in the original announcement did not permit it to implement the current ban.

It strains credulity to believe that this statute grants the CDC the sweeping authority that it asserts, the court said in an unsigned opinion. The three liberal justices represented in the nine-justice court dissented.

The Supreme Court signaled in June that it thought the moratorium was on solid legal ground and that such a policy needed to be imposed by Congress rather than enacted unilaterally by the Executive Branch.

The CDC issued a moratorium first in September 2020 after a prior one expired approved by Congress, with agency officials saying the policy was needed to combat the spread of COVID - 19 and prevent homelessness during the pandemic.

Under political pressure from Biden's fellow Democrats, his administration on August 3 implemented a somewhat narrower eviction moratorium three days after the prior one expired.