Court Strikes Down Eviction Ban

Court Strikes Down Eviction Ban

U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich of the District of Columbia struck down a nationwide eviction moratorium Wednesday, calling it unlawful. Friedrich’s ruling applies nationwide.

The eviction ban was put in place last year by the Trump administration using public health powers granted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during health emergencies.

The ban was most recently extended by President Biden through the end of June.

In her 20-page ruling, Friedrich said, “It is the role of the political branches, and not the courts, to assess the merits of policy measures designed to combat the spread of disease, even during a global pandemic. The question for the Court is a narrow one: Does the Public Health Service Act grant the CDC the legal authority to impose a nationwide eviction moratorium? It does not.”

The Georgia and Alabama Association of REALTORS®, two housing providers, and their property management companies, filed the suit in defense of mom-and-pop property owners around the country struggling to pay bills without rental income for more than a year.

NAR—which helped secure nearly $50 billion in rental assistance provided by Congress since December to help tenants pay their bills and provide relief to housing providers who have lost income—supported the lawsuit, saying the ban was no longer needed.

“NAR has always maintained that the best solution for all parties was rental assistance to cover the rent, taxes and utility bills for tenants struggling during the pandemic,” says NAR President Charlie Oppler. “This decision prevents two crises—one for tenants, and one for mom-and-pop housing providers who do not have a reprieve from their bills. With rental assistance secured, the economy growing, and unemployment rates falling, there is no need to continue a blanket, nationwide eviction ban. With this safety net firmly in place, the market needs a return to normalcy and stability.”

Oppler adds that “our attention now should turn to the swift and efficient implementation of rental assistance.”

https://www.nar.realtor/breaking-news/court-strikes-down-eviction-ban

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Some buyers had to waive the home inspection to get their bid accepted.

Exterior Inspection

When you are buying a lottery ticket you have a small chance to win big, but when you are buying a house without home inspection you have a great chance to find out that you have to invest great deal of money to repair/replace un-expected problem.

You may ask what kind of problems we are talking about.

As a home inspector, I can name a dozen of problems that not easy to see and especially if you don’t have a special training that can cost thousands of dollars to repair.

Here is real story – couple of weeks ago I got a call from very angered person; he asked if I can provide second opinion on structural integrity of his house.  I’ve recommended calling structural engineer for evaluation, he replied that he already did and he knows that he has problems with foundation, sagging and uneven floor. He told me that he bought a home without the inspection and now he plans to go to court.

I don’t know what his chances to win in court, but the average cost to repair foundation problems is $4,511 with most homeowners spending between $2,318 to $6,750. Minor foundation crack repairs cost $620 or more to fix, while major repairs that require hydraulic piers can cost $10,000 to $15,000.

Today many home inspection companies are offering pre-sale / pre-offer final walk through or short evaluation, where inspector present at the time of showing as part of the buyer group. This way buyer will learn about problems, before even participating in war of bids.

Please take a look what MSP Home Inspections LLC offering to their clients:

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