The National Apartment Association, a landlord lobbyist group, recently filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, seeking to recover damages from what the organization alleges are “severe economic losses under the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) overreaching federal eviction moratorium.”
According to the group, the CDC’s extended moratorium order is jeopardizing the long-term viability of housing infrastructure, putting those who provide rental homes at risk and setting a “dangerous precedent” for future disaster-related protocols.
The organization argues that the CDC restricted several rights in the U.S. Constitution, including:
– The right to access the courts
– The freedom to contract with others absent government interference
– The right to demand compensation when property is taken by government action
– The limits of federal government power
The suit, NAA et al. v. The United States of America, alleges the COVID-19 pandemic has left the industry stranded with $26.6 billion in debt not covered by federal financial assistance.
A U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey reports that roughly 1.2 million households face a likelihood of evictions in the next two months, and landlords have stated they are fearful about the financial implications once these moratoriums end.
“America’s 40 million renters will still need a place to call home tomorrow, next year and next decade,” said Bob Pinnegar, NAA president and CEO. “The CDC’s irresponsible eviction policy has jeopardized not only the availability, but also the future cost of rental housing and leaves renters saddled with crippling debt. NAA is standing up for an industry—and its residents—that are left holding the bag on $26.6 billion in rental debt after operating under extreme conditions for 16 months. The government has intruded into private property and Constitutional freedoms, and we are proudly fighting to make owners whole and ensure residents’ debt is wiped from their record.”
For more information about the lawsuit, click here.
Liz Dominguez is RISMedia’s senior online editor. Email her your real estate news ideas to lizd@rismedia.com.
Un-elected officials/bureaucrats and the federal government are OVER reaching…this lawsuit may not hold up. HOWEVER it has merit!!!!
About time someone does something. The government has stepped way over it’s authority and will continue to do so as long as it can get away with it. From harming landlords, to open borders but insisting people are vaccinated, to closing down privately owned businesses.
These Apartment owners will get a lawsuit for fraudulent activities receiving millions in government aid and still filed for thousands of evictions.
This coin has two sides and many of them will go to jail.
Not to mention property rights were impacted. Couldnt sell my house due to a non-paying tenant refusing entry into her apartment by prospective buyers. My free speech rights were impacted, and more. New York has decided if they pay her back rent then I can’t evict her for a year…which means I can’t sell my house! Somethings totally wrong here!!
I agree, something needs to be done. Think of a Hydra. When you cut off one head, two more grow back. Our government for years has tried to “fix” issues like cutting off a Hydra head but then two more grow back. Then they try and “fix” the two they created and then four more grow back and it never stops. Natural progression would have corrected the problem over time but when you just try and STOP something from happening, it’s kind of like water. Just putting something in front of a water spill doesn’t stop it, it just goes around. Government needs to learn to say “no”. Every issue that is presented does not need to be addressed by our federal government. That’s not what they were created for. Year after year they pull more power from our local and state and transfer it to the federal. Officials are elected by the people but controlled by the big corporations. You can trace almost every decision made by the government back to money. It’s always about the money.
The government caused this crisis by epic mismanagement. All they had to do was simply make Pandemic rental assistance available from the beginning to those they decided needed it. Instead they just told an entire nation of renters not to pay their rent anymore, month after month endlessly.The result was middle class housing providers across the country being busted, selling out or sustaining huge losses. Tenants rental records and credit ruined, a backlog of evictions and a housing shortage.Is anyone surprised by the result?