Alabama Association of Realtors v. Department of Health and Human Services: End of Federal Eviction Moratorium Curtails Expansive Interpretation of CDC’s Statutory Authority

Abstract

Alabama Association of Realtors v. Department of Health andHuman Services: End of Federal EvictionMoratoriumCurtails Expansive Interpretation of CDC’s Statutory Authority—Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labor market, millions of Americans experienced sharp reductions in household income and faced increased housing insecurity.1 Record levels of unemployment, destabilized communities, and a lack of affordable housing all contributed to increased risk of bankruptcy and foreclosure.2 Estimates showed that 30 to 40 million Americans would be at risk of eviction during the COVID-19 pandemic without government intervention.3 As federal, state, and local governments failed to renew expiring housing protections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) announced its own federal eviction mortarium.4 This unprecedented action raised serious implementation, constitutionality, and statutory concerns. Numerous courts reviewed challenges to the federal eviction moratorium between 2020 to 2021, but analyseswere inconsistent.5 InAlabama Association of Realtors (“AAR”) v. Department of Health andHuman Services (“HHS”), the Supreme Court of the United States (“Supreme Court”) confirmed that the federal eviction moratorium was unlawful.6 Consequently, the CDC’s federal eviction moratorium ended on August 26, 2021. In AAR v. HHS, trade associations, real estate professionals, and rental management corporations (“Plaintiffs”) brought suit against the HHS, CDC, and several government officials (“Government”) challenging the federal eviction moratorium on statutory and constitutional grounds.7 On May 5, 2021, the United States District Court for