On Saturday February 27th, the Justice Department filed an appeal to the Texas Federal District Court order declaring the CDC eviction moratorium unconstitutional. The moratorium purported to prohibit the filing of residential evictions for non-payment of rent, but under a procedure established by the Texas Supreme court, permitted judges to question plaintiffs under oath to ascertain the veracity of an affidavit submitted by tenants under the moratorium stating that COVID had adversely affected the tenant’s income to the extent that they could not pay rent. The moratorium is currently expected to expire March 31, 2021, but is widely expected to be extended through June 2021. In the opinion, Judge Barker said he expected the CDC to abide by his ruling and cease enforcement of the CDC’s eviction moratorium order, noting “[s]o the court chooses not to issue an injunction at this time.” “Plaintiffs may, of course, seek an injunction should defendants threaten to depart from the declaratory judgment.” However, the Justice Department claims that the scope of the ruling was limited to the particular seven plaintiffs to the law suit.
Update on Texas Federal Court Ruling against CDC Eviction Moratorium
03 Wednesday Mar 2021
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