(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government's nationwide prohibition on evictions can stay in effect, a federal appeals court ruled.
A three-judge panel in Washington said the eviction moratorium instituted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can continue while the Biden administration appeals a lower-court ruling that overturned the ban last month.
In that case, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled the CDC had exceeded its authority when it issued a broad moratorium on evictions across all rental properties. After the government appealed, Friedrich put a temporary stay on her order.
In upholding the stay on Wednesday, the appeals court said the government had made a “strong showing that it is likely to succeed on the merits.”
The ruling will come as a relief to tenants' groups that feared Friedrich's initial order would cause mass evictions as the U.S. continues to grapple with the economic fallout of the pandemic.
The moratorium, first enacted by President Donald Trump and extended by President Joe Biden, aims to prevent evictions amid a public health emergency that has seen millions of Americans lose their jobs and fall deep into debt.
The Alabama Association of Realtors, which filed the suit challenging the moratorium, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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