Evictions will resume in Maryland after the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not have the authority to impose a nationwide eviction moratorium.
The Baltimore Renters United and Renters United Maryland coalitions called the decision “devastating” as 129,000 Maryland families who are behind on rent will face eviction, including 25,000 families in Baltimore City.
Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020, which included a 120-day eviction moratorium for rental properties that participated in federal assistance programs or that received federally backed mortgage financing.
After the moratorium expired in July 2020 and Congress did not renew it, the CDC instituted its own series of extensions.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Aug. 3 issued an order extending the nationwide moratorium through Oct. 3 on evictions for tenants who are unable to pay their rent or housing bills.
Walensky said evictions would exacerbate the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant as people would be forced to enter crowded, congregate or shared living settings or experience unsheltered homelessness. Such circumstances would also contribute to interstate spread of coronavirus, the director said.
The order prohibited evictions specifically in counties experiencing substantial or high levels of COVID-19 transmission.
As of Friday morning, all 24 of Maryland’s jurisdictions fit that description, including seven that are experiencing substantial transmission levels and 17 that have high levels of transmission.
But the Alabama Association of Realtors sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in an effort to get the ban overturned.
In a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the eviction moratorium, ruling that the ban would have to come from Congress, not the Biden administration.
Gov. Larry Hogan allowed Maryland’s eviction order to expire Aug. 15.
The renters’ advocate coalitions in Baltimore and Maryland urged local, state and federal leaders to take action to prevent evictions.
“This doesn’t have to happen,” the coalitions said in a joint statement. “Congress can extend the CDC Order. Governor Hogan can issue an order that pauses evictions when a rental assistance application has been filed. The General Assembly can call a special session and do the same — and fund the Access to Counsel in Evictions law. Local elected officials can expedite dispersal of rental assistance money, implement eviction diversion programs, and Baltimore can fully fund implementation of the right to counsel in evictions law. We need action, not handwringing.”
