Multiple sources report the Supreme Court has ruled the Biden Administration cannot extend the moratorium on evictions of renters who do not pay their rent. SCOTUS ruled that if the government wishes to enforce this policy it requires an act of Congress to make it law.
When the President reinstated the moratorium because of Covid-19 he indicated he believed he lacked the Constitutional authority to do so, but did it anyway. An eviction moratorium appears to me to violate the "takings" clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The Fifth Amendment concludes with "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Disallowing eviction for non-payment of rent is taking the rental property from its owner without compensation and devoting it to a public use - housing the indigent.
I believe a capitalist reading of that clause says if you (the government) want to house unemployed people in my rental unit, you get to pay their rent. Asking landlord/me to "eat" that loss of income is taking my private property for a public use.
This further suggests that, should Congress pass such a law the justices might find it unconstitutional unless it includes a federal payment of the rent, in other words, "just compensation." Congress as currently constituted wouldn't pass such a law.
