A federal court ruled that the eviction moratorium enacted by the Centers for Disease Control as part of the last administration's attempts to bypass Congress on aid, was legally unsupportable and overturned it, but then shortly after agreed to temporarily allow it to continue while it considers an emergency request from President Biden, said Bloomberg. The judge, Dabney Friedrich, said that the CDC did not have the authority to implement an eviction ban, and ignored the Dept. of Justice's request that the end of the ban apply only to properties owned by the plaintiffs, the Alabama Association of Realtors, who argue that the ban is no longer necessary.

The White House, via the Dept. of Health and Human Services, said that evictions would exacerbate the spread of the virus, thus prolonging the pandemic and so urged the judge to please put a pause on her own ruling. Unlike the previous request, the judge agreed to at least temporarily halt the process while she considered the merits of the administation's arguments.

While the ruling would apply nationwide, New Yorkers short on rent have at least one backstop: Gov. Andrew Cuomo, yesterday, signed legislation that allows the state's own eviction ban, originally set to expire May 1, to be extended to August 31.