Florida Realtors sue CDC over eviction moratorium

ORLANDO, Fla. — Editor’s note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.

Florida Realtors and a real estate agency have filed a lawsuit against the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alleging that the agency’s “draconian” eviction moratorium during the Covid-19 pandemic has caused financial damage to landlords across the state.

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The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court by the Orlando-based Florida Realtors organization and Gulfport-based R.W. Caldwell Inc., seeks to end the moratorium and wants a permanent injunction that would ban the CDC from enforcing fines for evicting during the pandemic.

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It names the CDC and Director Rochelle Walensky, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Xavier Becerra, the U.S. Department of Justice and Attorney General Merrick Garland as defendants.

The CDC’s eviction moratorium has been in effect since September 2020, when a similar protection order under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act expired.

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Those who violate the moratorium order can be fined up to $100,000 and/or spend a year in jail; if the eviction results in a death, the landlord can be fined up to $250,000.

Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journal’s website.

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