Toledo evictions will continue despite moratorium

Aug. 4—The new federal eviction moratorium will not affect Toledo residents, Toledo Housing Court Judge Joseph Howe said Wednesday morning.

The moratorium, which was announced by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday and will expire Oct. 3, covers counties with "substantial" or "high" levels of coronavirus transmission, which is about 90 percent of the nation's population.

At the moment, that does not describe include Lucas County, but Judge Howe said that even if it did, the order would not apply to his court.

"The 6th Circuit decision in Tiger Lily was based upon the reasoning that the CDC does not have power without specific authority given from Congress to implement this kind of moratorium," he wrote to The Blade in an email. "So changing the wording of the order does not solve the issue that overruled the moratorium in the 6th Circuit. As a lower court, I am bound by the 6th Circuit decision."

The Tiger Lily, LLC, et al. v. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ruling in late March called the previous federal eviction moratorium unconstitutional. As a result, Toledo Housing Court — which falls under the circuit court's jurisdiction — began hearing eviction cases in early April.

According to Judge Howe, his court will continue to do so even with the new moratorium in place.

First Published August 4, 2021, 12:51pm