Florida Legal Foundation Beats Back Covid Moratorium

Steven Cowley v. Spicliff, Inc. (CDC Eviction Moratorium Case)

Download (CDC EVICTION MORATORIUM CASE) • 170KB

Date: April 8, 2021

In  one of the more outrageous examples of government overreach during the Covid Pandemic, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an order prohibiting  certain owners of residential property from evicting tenants who are in violation of the terms of their lease, whether it be non-payment of rent, creating a nuisance, or affecting the rights of their neighbors.  Worse, relying solely on the agency order, a Pensacola, Florida judge in the hysteria of the moment issued a sua sponte order preventing a landlord from ejecting a non-paying tenant based upon receipt of a pre-printed form without evening a hearing!

Eventually, another judge reversed the order and found the CDC order unconstitutional as applied to the property owner.  The tenant appealed, but in another twist, the landlord was subjected to so much adverse publicity, the landlord elected not to defend the appeal.  Florida Legal Foundation did and won! 

Quoting James Madison, the Foundation reminded the appellate court that the federal government is a government of limited enumerated powers “whose powers will be exercised primarily on external objects as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce” while state powers extend to “all objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties and property of the people.” Federalist No. 45, at 236 (Garry Wills, ed., Bantam 1982). By Madison’s reckoning, the federal government had no business in the premises. 

Furthermore, as the Foundation argued, the interference by a federal agency in the sovereign powers of a branch of the state government, the State of Florida’s judicial branch, is inconsistent with the principle of separation of powers, the core principle informing our democracy.  Eventually, the CDC agreed that “[t]he Order is not intended to terminate or suspend the operations of any state or local court,” but could not help leaving behind the not so subtle message from “big government” that “courts should take into account the Orders instruction not to evict a covered person from rental properties[.]”  No matter what, the federal government could not deign to keep itself out of local affairs!   

What Happened?

Steven Cowley, a tenant in Escambia County, Florida, used a CDC form to halt his eviction for non-payment of rent. Based on that form, a County Court judge issued an immediate stay—meaning Spicliff, the landlord, couldn’t proceed with the eviction. The court did this without notice or hearing—a move the Foundation argued violated due process and basic constitutional principles as well.

Eventually, the court lifted the stay, ruling that the CDC’s declaration was unconstitutional as applied to the landlord’s property.

Florida Legal Foundation’s Argument: The CDC Overstepped

The Foundation argued that:

1. The CDC can't tell Florida courts what to do.   One of the fundamental principles of our democracy is federalism.  The CDC’s Order violated this fundamental principle.

2. The eviction stay violated due process.  Spicliff wasn’t notified or given a chance to be heard. That’s a fundamental legal right under both state and federal law.

3. The CDC’s authority under the Public Health Services Act doesn’t go this far. Congress never gave the CDC power to override property laws or interfere in landlord-tenant relationships. The statute mentions things like fumigation, not halting evictions nationwide.

4. The order was unconstitutional. The CDC’s move reached into state powers, which the U.S. Constitution protects. Regulating property rights is a state issue.

   
   

The Foundation won!

For more, see the Florida Legal Foundation brief filed in the appellate court, attached above.