Judge Strikes Down D.C.’s Ban On Eviction Filings
I don't know who had the bright idea that landlords could be made into slaves. A surprise that a DC court agrees.
Read the rest at the link. Are you for freeloaders or landlords?A judge in D.C. Superior Court ruled Wednesday that the District’s ban on new eviction filings during the pandemic is unconstitutional. While the decision does not allow actual evictions to take place, it does pave the way for landlords to begin the eviction process, and for future challenges to the city’s eviction ban.
“The United States Constitution protects the right of property owners to go to court to regain possession of their property,” judge Anthony Epstein wrote in his order. “The filing moratorium limits this right by denying property owners their day in court for an extended and indefinite period.”
The court stopped hearing new eviction cases during the pandemic. And in May, the D.C. Council banned landlords from filing to evict their tenants during the public health emergency and for 60 days after.
Landlords and property managers who filed eviction cases after the ban went into effect sued to overturn it. In his ruling, Judge Epstein wrote that banning actual evictions protects the health and safety of D.C. residents, but freezing filings doesn’t have the same effect.
“He’s saying there’s nothing about the filing of a case, in light of the protection from an actual eviction, that makes citizens any less safe,” says Richard Bianco, an attorney who represents property owners in the District.
Nevertheless, the ruling is not expected to unleash a wave of new eviction filings or actual evictions, says Beth Mellen, supervising attorney in the housing law unit at D.C. Legal Aid. That’s because tenants are still protected from eviction under other parts of the law, including the ongoing ban on actual evictions and a prohibition on eviction notices. Landlords must provide notice before filing an eviction case.
While 1,854 eviction cases were filed in Landlord & Tenant court between March 11 and December 1, Epstein’s order notes, only 458 of these cases remain open; the rest have been dismissed, are on track toward a settlement agreement, or are otherwise inactive. Those are the cases that could potentially move forward under the new order, Bianco says.
In his order, the judge writes that the “only short-term impact of the Court’s ruling is that the Court will schedule a hearing in these cases as soon as it reasonably can, property owners will have to try to prove their case, and defendants will be able to raise any defense or seek any relief to which they are entitled.”
The ruling takes effect immediately, but tenants still have an opportunity to appeal it. At the same time, Mellen says attorneys for landlords could mount legal challenges against other aspects of the city’s eviction ban.