U.S. Supreme Court Tosses New York's Eviction Moratorium

"The Supreme Court issued an emergency order on Thursday blocking a New York state pandemic-issued law created to protect renters from eviction," reports Lilian Dickerson.

The Supreme Court found fault with the portion of New York's "COVID Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act" that "allows tenants to self-certify that they’re facing economic hardship as a result of the pandemic, and avoid eviction through this means through the end of August," according to Dickerson.

"The court’s argument for the law’s unconstitutionality was that landlords had no way to effectively challenge such claims made by a tenant."

The three justices appointed by Democratic presidents dissented from the order, saying the order was unnecessary with the law set to expire in three works from the ruling, and with the potential for harm outweighing the benefit of the order.

An attorney representing the state's landlords is quoted praising the court order. "Meanwhile, housing advocates responded by asking the state legislature to reconvene to amend the law so that it allowed for hearings on tenants’ hardship declarations, in compliance with the emergency order," writes Dickerson.