From [HERE] A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to lift a national moratorium on the eviction of tenants who have fallen behind on their rent during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The court rejected an emergency request by landlords and real-estate companies to clear the way for evictions after a federal judge in Washington ruled last month that the moratorium was legally unsupportable. The judge who issued that ruling stayed the effect of the decision, while litigation continues.

The moratorium has protected millions of tenants but created financial hardships for landlords. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended it for one final month through July. The moratorium had previously been set to expire Wednesday. 

The issue split the high court on a 5-4 vote, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining with the court’s three liberal justices to leave the moratorium in place. The court’s action came in a brief order. As is typical in emergency appeals, the court didn’t explain its reasoning.

Justice Kavanaugh issued a one-paragraph concurrence explaining his views, saying he believed the moratorium was unlawful but was willing to leave it in place for July. He said the moratorium would allow for “additional and more orderly distribution” of rental-assistance funds appropriated by Congress.

The four other conservative justices— Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett —indicated they would have lifted the moratorium.

Tenant advocates welcomed the Supreme Court’s action. 

“Allowing evictions to proceed when there are tens of billions in resources to prevent them would be wasteful and cruel,” said Diane Yentel, president and chief executive of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The National Association of Realtors, which helped fund the legal challenge, said it looked forward to the moratorium expiring. “With the pandemic waning and the economy improving, it is time to restore the housing sector to its healthy, former function,” the group’s president, Charlie Oppler, said in a statement.

The moratorium, which originated from an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last August, shields tenants who have missed monthly rent payments from being forced out of their homes if they declare financial hardship. They still owe the back rent.

The moratorium is based on public-health concerns. The CDC found that mass evictions could accelerate the spread of Covid-19 because displaced tenants would likely move in with friends and family if not into shelters or settings in proximity with others.

The moratorium was originally set to expire Dec. 31, 2020, but Congress extended it until late January, and the CDC has extended the order three times.

At the center of the case is a ruling by U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington that found that the CDC didn’t have the power under current public-health law to issue such a broad prohibition on evictions. The judge, however, granted a government request to stay her ruling pending appeal, citing public-health concerns.

A Washington federal appeals court also chose to leave the moratorium in place, saying the government had strong arguments that the moratorium was lawful.

Lower courts across the country have reached conflicting rulings on whether the moratorium is on solid legal footing.

In their emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, the moratorium’s challengers said landlords have been losing $13 billion a month in unpaid rent and won’t ever recover all of that money. They said the ban on evictions is less justifiable now that the U.S. is easing Covid-19 protocols in light of declining case numbers and the growing vaccinations of Americans.