Supreme Court Won’t Revive Lawsuit Over LA’s COVID-Era Eviction Moratorium

A federal appeals court held that landlords failed to prove the moratorium qualified as a government ‘taking’ that warranted compensation.

Renters and housing advocates rally for canceling rent and ending evictions amid the COVID pandemic in Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2020. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

The Supreme Court has decided against taking up a case about whether an eviction moratorium imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic violated the property rights of landlords.

The landlords in the case argued that the moratorium Los Angeles imposed in March 2020, which prevented them from evicting delinquent tenants, constituted a so-called taking under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.