The US Supreme Court on Thursday lifted New York state’s ban on residential evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, handing a victory to a group of small landlords that challenged a moratorium that had been slated to expire on August 31.
The justices, in a X-X decision, granted an emergency request by the landlords to lift the eviction ban while litigation over the dispute continues. A lower court in June rejected landlords’ argument that the moratorium violated their rights to due process of law and free speech under the US Constitution.
Some landlords in the state could still could face another barrier. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on August 3 issued a new 60-day federal moratorium on residential evictions to combat the spread of COVID-19, focused on jurisdictions with high infection rates.
