A coalition of more than 1,500 landlords is pursuing settlement talks with the Justice Department over financial damages stemming from the federal eviction moratorium imposed during the pandemic. The group filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the ban, enacted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, violated the Fifth Amendment by denying them compensation for lost rental income. After losing their initial case in the Court of Federal Claims in 2022, the plaintiffs prevailed on appeal and are now in active settlement discussions.
The moratorium remained in effect from September 2020 through July 2021, prohibiting landlords from evicting tenants unable to pay rent. It ended after the Supreme Court ruled the CDC lacked the authority to impose such a ban without congressional approval. Landlords are now seeking to recoup as much as $1.5 billion, though they acknowledge this represents only a fraction of the industry's total losses during the period. Individual cases show wide variation, with some landlords losing thousands of dollars while one plaintiff lost over $14.5 million.
Matthew Haines, who owns three rental communities with 240 units in Arlington and Irving, Texas, described the impact as severe. Unable to collect rent from tenants who had lost employment, many landlords were forced to take on debt, reduce staff, postpone maintenance, and in some cases sell properties. Haines stated that property owners have a right to compensation when the government unilaterally imposes restrictions on their business operations. "What I hope that we will accomplish is vindication for ourselves," he said. "But what's more important to me is that hopefully my investors will recover some of that money that they should have had coming in over the last six years."
According to the lawsuit, the moratorium and resulting backlog of eviction cases cost owners $57 billion, with more than 10 million renters falling delinquent on payments during the ban's first four months. A survey by the National Rental Home Council found that half of small landlords had tenants who missed rent, and a third sold or planned to sell properties after the moratorium ended.
Liz Leone, who manages 52 apartments in Las Vegas, reported losing over $250,000 and borrowing $60,000 from the federal Small Business Administration to remain solvent. "I was definitely questioning whether I would survive," she said, noting that while she could delay some expenses, property taxes and utilities still had to be paid.
Tenant advocates counter that eviction bans were essential public health measures. A study published in JAMA Network Open found that homelessness rose 11 percent in a typical state in 2022 and would have increased 20 percent without state eviction moratoriums. Dulcee Barnes, a 28-year-old in Miami who lost her restaurant job, credited the moratorium with preventing homelessness. "It gave us breathing room. It took away the fear of having to possibly pack up within 24 hours," she said.
Tenant rights advocates argue that landlords received substantial federal support. They point to $46.5 billion in federal emergency rental assistance distributed to help cover lost payments. However, landlords report ongoing consequences. Many have tightened tenant screening standards and become reluctant to rent to applicants with problematic rental histories, a caution they attribute partly to increased fraud and the longer eviction timelines that now exist. Rick Jones, vice chairman of Management Services Corporation, which owns 4,000 apartment units in Virginia, noted that property managers now prefer to keep units vacant rather than accept higher-risk tenants.
