Amicus Curiae Brief in Opposition to PI (Housing Advocates) — Brown v. Azar (N.D. Ga., 2020-10-13, 1)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA 
ATLANTA DIVISION 
 
 
RICHARD LEE BROWN, et al., 
 
 Plaintiffs, 
 
v. 
 
SECRETARY ALEX AZAR, et al., 
Defendants. 
 
 
Case No. 1:20-cv-3702-JPB  
 
 
 
BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION 
FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION 
 
 
Permitting mass evictions during a pandemic is tantamount to throwing 
gasoline on a raging fire. In the United States alone, the COVID-19 virus cost the 
lives of more than 210,000 people, caused illness in millions, and produced grave 
economic consequences. The economic fallout and widespread job loss caused 
U.S. renter households to fall behind on rent, which could lead to 20 million 
evictions and displacement of over 40 million individuals in the coming year. 
Evictions on this scale—in the midst of a national health crisis—endanger 
everyone’s health, but are particularly pernicious for low-income families and 
communities of color. The most vulnerable American families should be not be 
forced to shoulder the cost of this public health crisis alone. 

 
 
 
 
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Only a September 4, 2020 order from the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC)—which prohibits landlords from evicting certain covered 
persons from residential properties for nonpayment of rent through December 31, 
2020—has staved off this flood of mass evictions. See 85 Fed. Reg. 55292 (Sept. 4, 
2020). In issuing the CDC moratorium, the government made a rational and 
important choice to prioritize public health during a national crisis, despite the 
economic impact it will have on some landlords. This economic impact cannot 
compete with the harm to our collective public health should mass evictions 
proceed unabated. The CDC Order serves public interests of the highest order, and 
only a clearly meritorious legal challenge seeking to prevent irreparable harm of 
comparable magnitude could justify preliminarily enjoining it. The Court should 
deny the motion as this challenge nowhere approaches that standard.  
STATEMENTS OF INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE1 
 
The National Housing Law Project (NHLP) is a nonprofit organization 
that advances housing justice for poor people and communities, primarily through 
technical assistance and training to legal aid attorneys and by co-counseling on 
 
1 Amici Curiae certify that no party’s counsel authored this brief in whole or in 
part, that no party or party’s counsel contributed money intended to fund the 
preparation or submission of the brief, and that no person (other than amicus 
curiae, their members and their counsel) contributed money intended to fund the 
preparation or submission of the brief. 

 
 
 
 
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important litigation. NHLP coordinates the Housing Justice Network, more than 
1,600 legal services attorneys, advocates, and organizers dedicated to advancing 
the housing rights of poor individuals and families throughout the United States for 
over 40 years. Since 1981 NHLP has published HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ 
Rights, the seminal authority on federal housing laws. From the outset of the 
COVID-19 emergency, NHLP has been at the forefront of efforts to protect tenants 
and homeowners against eviction and displacement related to the pandemic and its 
economic fallout, including advocating for the imposition and extension of simple, 
broad, and effective eviction moratoria. 
Legal Services of Northern Virginia (LSNV) is the largest legal aid 
organization in Northern Virginia, helping thousands of clients each year in civil 
legal matters. LSNV partners closely with other legal aid organizations, state and 
local bar associations, as well as the courts to serve the region’s low-income and 
neediest populations. LSNV provides a broad range of civil legal services, and its 
housing practice specializes in ensuring access to housing, preventing 
homelessness, and advocating for increased affordable and safe housing in its 
service area. Since COVID-19 hit its communities, LSNV has led a coordinated 
response to address the housing legal needs caused by the pandemic and resulting 
economic crisis.   

 
 
 
 
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The Atlanta Legal Aid Society (ALAS) was founded in 1924 by volunteer 
attorneys. ALAS meets the civil legal needs of the poorest and most vulnerable 
citizens in the Atlanta metro area, with five offices serving Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, 
Gwinnett, and Clayton counties. ALAS advises and represents qualifying, low-
income clients in a variety of civil legal issue areas, opening over 20,000 new 
cases in 2019 alone. Since April 1, 2020, ALAS has assisted over 2,700 clients 
with their housing legal issues, which primarily concerned eviction. Many ALAS 
clients have utilized CDC declarations to prevent being evicted during the 
nationwide moratorium. 
ARGUMENT 
 
A preliminary injunction is “an extraordinary remedy never awarded as of 
right.” Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 24 (2008). 
Designed to preserve the legal positions of the parties relative to each other until a 
trial on the merits, it is—in the eyes of the Eleventh Circuit—a “drastic remedy not 
to be granted unless the movant clearly established the burden of persuasion” as to 
each prerequisite. Siegel v. Lepore, 234 F.3d 1163, 1176 (11th Cir. 2000). The 
Plaintiffs must demonstrate all four elements required for injunctive relief: 
substantial likelihood of success on the merits, threat of irreparable injury absent 
an injunction, that their threatened injury outweighs the damage to the opposing 

 
 
 
 
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party, and the injunction is not adverse to the public interest. Texas v. Seatrain 
Int’l, S.A., 518 F.2d 175, 179 (5th Cir. 1975). 
As the government’s brief demonstrates, the Plaintiffs fail to establish the 
first element required to grant a preliminary injunction—substantial likelihood of 
success on the merits. Even if Plaintiffs were able to demonstrate likelihood of 
success on the merits, the preliminary injunction fails under the last three factors. 
This brief explains why the Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction should be 
denied under the harm and public interest factors, from the perspective of legal aid 
organizations providing direct services to low-income tenants, and a national 
nonprofit that supports that work. 
I. 
The Plaintiffs Will Not Suffer Irreparable Harm. 
 
Absent a “substantial likelihood of irreparable injury,” injunctive relief is 
improper. Siegel, 234 F.3d at 1176. Irreparable injury is the “sine qua non of 
injunctive relief.” Id. (internal citations omitted); see also Winter, 555 U.S. at 22 
(preliminary injunction is not appropriate unless plaintiff demonstrates it is likely 
to suffer an irreparable harm without injunction). Because Plaintiffs will suffer 
only temporary, reparable economic harm, their motion fails. 

 
 
 
 
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A. 
The Plaintiffs’ injuries are purely economic. 
To demonstrate irreparable harm, the Plaintiffs must show that their injury 
“cannot be undone through monetary remedies.” Cate v. Oldham, 707 F.2d 1176, 
1189 (11th Cir. 1983). Plaintiffs’ injuries, however, are purely economic. See 
Overstreet v. Lexington-Fayette Urban Cty. Gov’t, 305 F.3d 566, 579 (6th Cir. 
2002) (“The fact that an individual may lose his income for some extended period 
of time does not result in irreparable harm, as income wrongly withheld may be 
recovered through monetary damages in the form of back pay.”) Not only would 
monetary remedies make each Plaintiff whole, the CDC’s action requires tenants to 
make partial payments as they are able and does nothing to prevent Plaintiffs from 
pursuing arrears. See 85 Fed. Reg. 55292. Plaintiffs’ motion fails because landlords 
have multiple possible remedies available to recover lost rent, a purely economic 
and reparable injury. 
B. 
Time alone may repair Plaintiffs’ injuries. 
In addition to being fully compensable, the monetary harm may be 
significantly diminished or eliminated by the moratorium’s expiration on 
December 31, 2020. Many tenants represented by LSNV and ALAS have received 
rental assistance originating from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and 
Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Often that rental assistance entirely satisfies 

 
 
 
 
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a tenant’s debt. Admittedly, this assistance may run out before the end of the 
calendar year, leaving some tenants unserved. But Congress has the power to 
allocate additional funding, and a bill doing so has already passed the U.S. House 
of Representatives.2 It is likely the Plaintiffs can, will, or already have benefited 
from these funds, repairing some or all of the injury of lost rent. 
Aside from receiving rental assistance, the passage of time may enable some 
tenants to pay their rental debt. Tenants across the country are waiting for 
disbursement of unemployment benefits.3 Record numbers of job losses early in 
the COVID-19 crisis4 forced more than 59 million Americans to file for 
unemployment benefits since the start of the pandemic.5 Many tenants’ claims have 
lingered for months because states’ unemployment systems have been inundated 
 
2 See Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act 
(HEROES Act), H.R. 6800, 116th Cong. (2020) (proposing, among other things, 
$100 billion in appropriations for rental assistance to struggling tenants). 
3 Christopher Rugaber, Fraud, Backlogs Disrupt US Unemployment Benefit 
Payments, Wash. Post (Sept. 24, 2020), 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/many-more-likely-sought-us-jobless-
aid-as-layoffs-persist/2020/09/24/f5143f6c-fe55-11ea-b0e4-
350e4e60cc91_story.html. 
4 The U.S. unemployment rate increased from 4.4% in March 2020 to 14.7% in 
April 2020. It has steadily declined since then, however it remained at an 
abnormally high rate of 7.9% in September 2020. See U.S. Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, Economy at a Glance, https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.us.htm (last visited 
Oct. 8, 2020). 
5 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED Economic Research Weekly Initial 
Claims, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ICNSA (last visited Oct. 8, 2020). 

 
 
 
 
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with new claims.6 LSNV and ALAS represent tenants whose pending 
unemployment benefits—often amounting to many thousands of dollars—can pay 
off arrears to their landlords. A short delay in receiving rent cannot be deemed 
irreparable.  
In addition to unemployment benefits or federal assistance, as the economy 
rebounds tenants may return to work and pay their rent and/or judgments as they 
would have before the pandemic crisis. Contrary to Plaintiffs’ unsupported 
assertion, the fact that some tenants are currently unable to pay rent does not mean 
they are permanently “insolvent” or judgment proof. See Pls.’ Br. In Supp. Of Mot. 
For Prelim. Injunction (Pls.’ Br.) 36 (ECF No. 18-1). The potential solutions to 
landlords’ economic injuries are numerous and not limited by an eviction 
moratorium. Moreover, the impact of the economic harm is lessened since many 
landlords were able to take advantage of a CARES Act provision providing 360-
day, no penalty mortgage forbearance if they had a federally-backed mortgage. 
CARES Act, Pub. L. No. 116-136, § 4022, 134 Stat. 281 (2020). Many private 
 
6 Tony Romm, Underfunded, Understaffed and Under Siege: Unemployment 
Offices Nationwide are Struggling to do Their Jobs, Wash. Post (Apr. 6, 2020), 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/06/unemployment-benefits-
coronavirus/. 
 

 
 
 
 
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lenders are also offering forbearances. Nationwide, many states issued foreclosure 
moratoriums and stays.7  
Lastly, Plaintiffs overstate the meaning and impact of the moratorium. They 
have not lost access to the courts. Their access to one particular remedy, eviction, 
was delayed. See, e.g., Baptiste v. Kennedy, 2020 WL 5751572 at *25 (D. Mass. 
2020) (rejecting access to court claims against state eviction moratorium under 
takings, contracts clause, and due process theories); Elmsford Apartment Assocs., 
LLC v. Cuomo, 2020 WL 3498456, at *16 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) (state eviction 
moratorium did not violate right to petition clause because restriction was 
temporary and other kinds of lawsuits were available). Plaintiffs cannot meet the 
irreparable injury requirement for injunctive relief; their motion fails on that 
ground alone. 
II. 
The Public Has a Critical Interest in Preventing Evictions and Stopping 
the Spread of Disease During a Nationwide Public Health Emergency. 
 
Injunctive relief is not in the public interest. Even if Plaintiffs could show 
irreparable injury, their motion fails because the balancing of the equities weighs 
against them.    
 
7 Andrew Pizor & Geoffry Walsh, Mortgage Relief for Homeowners Affected by 
COVID-19, National Consumer Law Center (Sept. 23, 2020), 
https://library.nclc.org/mortgage-relief-homeowners-affected-covid-19. 

 
 
 
 
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When the government is the opposing party in a request for preliminary 
injunction, the factors assessing harm to the opposing party and weighing the 
public interest merge. Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418, 435 (2009). “[T]he 
government’s interest is the public interest.” Pursuing America’s Greatness v. Fed. 
Election Comm’n, 831 F.3d 500, 511 (D.C. Cir. 2016) (emphasis in original). “In 
exercising their sound discretion, courts of equity should pay particular regard for 
the public consequences in employing the extraordinary remedy of injunction.” 
Weinberger v. Romero-Barcelo, 456 U.S. 305, 312 (1982). When a preliminary 
injunction is adverse to the public interest, the court may withhold relief even if the 
plaintiff would suffer irreparable injury. Id.; see also Yakus v. United States, 321 
U.S. 414, 440 (1944). The greater public interest is in preventing the spread of 
COVID-19. 
The government has a substantial interest in protecting public health and 
safety. See Hodel v. Virginia Surface Min. and Reclamation Ass’n, 452 U.S. 264, 
300 (1981). As the nation’s leading health protection agency, the CDC is entrusted 
with “protect[ing] America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign 

 
 
 
 
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and in the U.S.” 8 The balance of equities favors the government the citizens it aims 
to protect.  
Plaintiffs’ requested injunction, on the other hand, is contrary to the public 
interest since it would leave 30 to 40 million people at risk of eviction amidst a 
pandemic. Due to the impact these evictions would have on the health of the 
community, individuals, and marginalized populations, a greater public interest 
exists in preventing the spread of COVID-19 than in granting Plaintiffs’ injunction.  
A. 
Mass eviction on this unprecedented scale would devastate the 
broader community. 
 
 
The magnitude of the imminent eviction crisis arising under COVID-19 
threatens to deliver an incomprehensibly dire outcome for the nation, far beyond 
the disruption evictions caused in ordinary times. In a typical year, approximately 
900,000 U.S. renter-occupied households experienced a judicial eviction and its 
crushing consequences.9 An Aspen Institute study this summer—cited in the CDC 
order—predicted that in the absence of a moratorium, between 19-23 million U.S. 
households were threatened with eviction by September 30, 2020—roughly 20 
 
8 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mission, Role and Pledge, 
https://www.cdc.gov/about/organization/mission.htm (last updated May 13, 2019). 
9 Eviction Lab, National Estimates: Eviction in America, Princeton University 
(May 11, 2018), https://evictionlab.org/national-estimates. 

 
 
 
 
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times the normal rate.10 See 85 Fed. Reg. at 55295. As the CDC noted, “[a] wave 
of evictions on that scale would be unprecedented in modern times.” See id. 
In late August, right before the CDC announced its moratorium, millions of 
tenants were bracing for the reality of eviction. In a CDC survey, a staggering 3.8 
million renter-occupied households, or 46.3 percent of respondents, reported that it 
was somewhat or very likely they would have to leave their home due to eviction 
in the next two months.11 14.4 million households, or 25.4 percent of respondents, 
had slight or no confidence in their ability to pay rent next month.12 The global 
consulting firm Stout calculated that between 9.7 and 14.2 million eviction actions 
could be filed before the end of the year if the CDC moratorium is lifted.13 Stout’s 
 
10 See Katherine Lucas McKay et al., 20 Million Renters Are at Risk of Eviction; 
Policymakers Must Act Now to Mitigate Widespread Hardship, The Aspen 
Institute (June 19, 2020), https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/20-million-
renters-are-at-risk-of-eviction/ (predicting 19-23 million U.S. evictions by Sept. 
30, 2020). 
11 U.S. Census Bureau, Housing Table 3b: Likelihood of Having to Leave this 
House in Next Two Months Due to Eviction, Week 13 Household Pulse Survey: 
August 19-August 31 (Sept. 9, 2020), 
https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2020/demo/hhp/hhp13.html#tables. 
12 U.S. Census Bureau, Housing Table 2b: Confidence in Ability to Make Next 
Month’s Payment for Renter Occupied Housing Units, by Select Characteristics, 
Week 13 Household Pulse Survey: August 19-August 31 (Sept. 9, 2020), 
https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2020/demo/hhp/hhp13.html#tables. 
13 Stout Risius Ross, Analysis of Current and Expected Rent Shortfall and 
Potential Eviction in the U.S. 36 (Sept. 25, 2020), https://www.ncsha.org/wp-
content/uploads/Analysis-of-Current-and-Expected-Rental-Shortfall-and-Potential-
Evictions-in-the-US_Stout_FINAL.pdf. 

 
 
 
 
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data further shows the massive societal impact (in dollars) those evictions could 
have in four southern states and the U.S. more broadly—costing upwards of $159 
billion across the U.S. See Chart attached as Appendix A. Plaintiffs allege the CDC 
is “catastrophizing” during what is quite literally an unprecedented catastrophe. 
See Pls.’ Br. in Supp. of Mot. for Prelim. Injunction (Pls.’ Br.) 22 (ECF No. 18-1).  
The catastrophic effects of widespread evictions—in the absence of the 
CDC’s moratorium—will not be confined to the millions of Americans who are at 
immediate risk of losing their home. Concentrated housing insecurity and 
widespread resident turnovers destabilize neighborhoods and undermine the social 
and economic welfare of communities. Schools, businesses, cash-strapped state 
and local governments, and other community organizations cannot realistically be 
expected to weather the shock and chaos of such enormous and sudden involuntary 
displacement of their students, workers, neighbors, customers, or members. 
Such an explosion in evictions also threatens to overwhelm homeless 
shelters, mental healthcare facilities, and emergency rooms. A study conducted in 
New York in 2018 concluded that “households in housing court that manage to 
avoid eviction, by virtue of being assigned to a courtroom with a lower eviction 
rate, are considerably less likely to use homeless shelters, even several years after 

 
 
 
 
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the initial non-payment filing.”14 Researchers found that an eviction increased the 
probability of  homeless shelter applications by 14%.15 Additionally, evictions 
increased the likelihood of hospitalization for a mental health condition by 9% and 
increased emergency room visits by over 70%.16 If 30 to 40 million people are 
evicted before the end of the year, already strained shelters and emergency services 
will face an unmanageable influx of people and lack the ability to provide services 
to those in need.  
 Displacing so many people during a raging pandemic will likely result in  
significant increases in transmission of COVID-19, costing lives.17 The CDC  
identified “limiting close face-to-face contact” as the “best way to reduce the 
spread” of COVID-19.18 Staying at home, quarantining, and self-isolation are 
essential measures for reducing community spread of COVID-19.19 Studies find 
 
14 Robert Collinson & Davin Reed, The Effects of Evictions on Low-Income 
Households 4 (Dec. 2018), 
https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/upload_documents/evictions_collinson
_reed.pdf. 
15 Id. at 3. 
16 Id. at 3-4. 
17 See Public Health Amicus Brief. 
18 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Social Distancing, 
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/social-
distancing.html (last updated July 15, 2020). 
19 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, When to Quarantine, 
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-
 

 
 
 
 
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that although some evictions lead to homelessness, many more result in “doubling 
up” with others, “effectively increasing household size and household crowding.”20 
In all the scenarios studied, higher eviction rates led to an increase in disease, with 
substantially higher risk for evicted individuals.21  
Reports also show that those who go to homeless shelters face a particularly 
high risk of infection. In Boston, 146 of 397 people living in one shelter tested 
positive for COVID-19.22 One of the largest homeless shelters in Oahu, Hawaii 
was forced to temporarily shut down after 56 residents and 6 staff members were 
diagnosed with COVID-19.23 More than 100 COVID-19 cases were recently traced 
 
sick/quarantine.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoro
navirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fif-you-are-sick%2Fquarantine-isolation.html (last 
updated Sept. 10, 2020). 
20 Michael Levy et al., COVID-19 Eviction Simulations, 
https://github.com/alsnhll/COVID19EvictionSimulations (last visited Oct. 8, 
2020). 
21 National Low Income Housing Coalition, Preliminary Research Shows Evictions 
Contribute to Spread of COVID-19 (Sept. 8, 2020), 
https://nlihc.org/resource/preliminary-research-shows-evictions-contribute-spread-
COVID-19. 
22 Lynn Jolicoeur, Boston Homeless Advocates Say Asymptomatic Virus Spread 
Shows ‘Urgent’ Need for Universal Testing, WBUR (Apr. 15, 2020) 
https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2020/04/15/boston-homeless-population-
coronavirus-asymptomatic-universal-testing. 
23 Allyson Blair, Homeless Shelter Reopens Following COVID-19 Outbreak, but 
with Fewer Beds, Hawaii News Now (Sept. 14, 2020), 
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/09/14/quarantine-site-converted-back-
homeless-shelter-iwilei-with-half-beds/.   

 
 
 
 
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back to an outbreak at a homeless shelter in Anchorage, Alaska.24 Massive 
increases in shared housing and homelessness threaten to drastically accelerate 
community transmission.  
An increase in COVID-19 transmission will cost lives, prolong the economic 
downturn, and make it more difficult for children to safely return to schools. 
Evictions have a host of extreme, negative consequences for people losing their 
homes and their broader community. Right now, people’s lives depend on others’ 
ability to stay at home, quarantine, and take basic precautions to prevent the spread 
of COVID-19. The greater public interest is in reducing evictions that have 
deleterious effects on public health and safety “in the face of a deadly pandemic 
with no vaccine, no cure, limited testing capacity, and the ability to spread quickly 
through asymptomatic vectors.” Malam v. Adducci, 2020 WL 2468481, *4 (May 
12, 2020) (finding that civil immigration detainees with high risks of complications 
from COVID-19 were at risk of irreparable injury as a result of loss of health or 
death, thus requiring their immediate release from detention). 
 
24 Aubrey Wieber, Feds to Help Manage Anchorage’s COVID-19 Outbreak Among 
the Homeless, Anchorage Daily News (Sept. 11, 2020), 
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2020/09/11/feds-to-help-manage-
anchorages-COVID-19-outbreak-among-the-homeless/. 

 
 
 
 
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B. 
Uncontrolled eviction during a pandemic would have a 
devastating impact on low-income individuals. 
 
Unlike Plaintiffs’ temporary, economic harm, the fallout from evictions, 
particularly during a pandemic, are irreparable. See, e.g., Chastain v. Northwest 
Georgia Housing Authority, 2011 WL 5979428, at *13 (N.D. Ga. 2011). 
Homelessness is an irreparable harm. See, e.g., Basham v. Freda, 805 F. 
Supp. 930, 932 (M.D. Fla.1992), aff'd, 985 F.2d 579 (11th Cir.1993). Interruption 
of educational opportunism for children is likely an irreparable harm. See, e.g., N.J. 
v. New York, 872 F. Supp. 2d 204, 214 (E.D.N.Y. 2011). Contrasting these harms 
prevented by the CDC moratorium with speculative economic losses demonstrates 
that the public interest is served by denying the injunction.  
 As of October 8, 2020, more than 1 million people have died from COVID-
19 and more than 36 million cases have been reported globally.25 The United States 
has documented the most confirmed cases and deaths of any country in the world.26 
More than 7.5 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed and more than 
 
25 World Health Organization, WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) 
Dashboard, https://covid19.who.int (last visited Oct. 8, 2020). 
26 Id. 

 
 
 
 
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211,000 people have died.27 The health risks are the greatest for the 29-43% of 
households facing eviction.28 
It is almost impossible to overstate the serious and long-term consequences 
that a single eviction can inflict on a person or family. After an eviction is granted, 
adults and children are forcibly displaced from their homes. Families that cannot 
afford rent, often cannot afford storage and may lose all of their possessions, 
including critical identity documents and cherished family belongings. Parents 
working in low wage jobs without paid leave are often unable to maintain stable 
employment as they are forced to direct time and energy into attending court 
appearances, finding new housing, and meeting immediate needs.29 Families with 
an eviction record face a major impediment to securing future housing and credit.30 
With severely limited housing options, families are routinely forced into living 
arrangements that are unsafe (especially during a contagious pandemic) or violent, 
 
27 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States COVID-19 Cases and 
Deaths by State, https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_totalcases (last 
visited Oct. 8, 2020). 
28 Katherine Lucas McKay et al., supra note 10. 
29 Matthew Desmond & Carl Gershenson, Housing and Employment Insecurity 
among the Working Poor, Social Problems 4-5 (Jan. 11, 2016), 
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mdesmond/files/desmondgershenson.sp2016.pdf?
m=1452638824.  
30 Adam Porton et al., Inaccuracies in Eviction Records: Implications for Renters 
and Researchers, Housing Policy Debate 13 (July 28, 2020), 
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511482.2020.1748084. 

 
 
 
 
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including when doubling up with other families, living out of a car or outdoors, or 
living in an emergency shelter.   
Homeless children endure a multitude of harms when their families are 
displaced. They often have poor school attendance as the entire family works to 
find emergency housing or transportation to school.31 Half of homeless, school-age 
children experience anxiety and depression, which can make it difficult to focus in 
class.32 They are twice as likely to be suspended from school or required to repeat a 
grade.33 Children also face health challenges as a result of their homelessness. 
They are more likely to suffer from chronic illnesses, malnutrition, ear infections, 
and exposure to environmental toxins.34 One in four have witnessed violence, 
which can lead to a range of emotional and behavioral difficulties, including 
depression, withdrawal, aggression, and acting out.35 Under normal circumstances, 
 
31 Kathryn Howell, Eviction and Educational Instability in Richmond, Virginia, 
RVA Eviction Lab 4 https://cura.vcu.edu/media/cura/pdfs/cura-
documents/EvictionandEducationalInstabilityinRichmond.pdf; Sascha Brodsky, 
Choosing Between Shelter and School, The Atlantic (Dec. 8, 2016), 
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/12/shelter-versus-
school/509825/. 
32 American Psychological Association, Effects of Poverty, Hunger and 
Homelessness on Children and Youth, https://www.apa.org/pi/families/poverty 
(last visited Oct. 8, 2020). 
33 Id. 
34 Id. 
35 Id. 

 
 
 
 
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these outcomes are unacceptable. They would be especially disastrous if the 
moratorium was enjoined, permitting evictions to reshape 20 times the number of 
families as usual. 
Individuals will feel the consequences of mass eviction for years. Many who 
are evicted struggle to obtain safe and decent housing for years afterwards because 
landlords regularly refuse to rent to tenants with an eviction judgment on their 
record. With fewer options, families are left with no choice but to rent substandard 
housing, often plagued by mold, rodent or cockroach infestations, unremediated 
lead hazards, or other habitability issues that cause and exacerbate health issues. 
Eviction often sets off a chain of negative and chaotic life events and can 
“fundamentally redirect [an evicted person’s] way, casting them onto a different, 
and much more difficult, path.”36 There is evidence that evicted mothers  
experience higher rates of depression even two years afterward.37 In turn, this can 
“affect their relationships with their romantic partners and children, kin and 
neighbors; could cause them to withdraw from social institutions, dampening their 
civic engagement and level of community embeddedness; and could sap their 
 
36 Matthew Desmond & Rachel Tolbert Kimbro, Eviction’s Fallout: Housing, 
Hardship, and Health, Social Forces 23 (2015), 
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mdesmond/files/desmondkimbro.evictions.fallout.
sf2015_2.pdf.   
37 Id. at 1.  

 
 
 
 
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energy, preventing them from seeking or keeping gainful employment or 
participating fully in their children’s development.”38 Failing to stop a landslide of 
evictions now has the added pernicious effect of hurting landlords in the future—
the more economic and social harm that is done to this population now, the less 
likely they are to ever recover and pay any or all of the accumulated debt. Denying 
Plaintiff’s requested injunction serves the greater public interest by shielding tens 
of millions of Americans to the harmful and long-lasting effects of eviction and 
displacement.  
C. 
A massive increase in evictions will disproportionately harm 
minority groups. 
 
 
The COVID-19 pandemic has not touched all of America equally. Minority 
groups have been disproportionately harmed. Considerable data reveals racial and 
ethnic minorities face increased risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19 due 
to longstanding structural inequities, including racial discrimination, lack of access 
to healthcare, and income and wealth disparities.39 
 
38 Id. at 23. 
39 See, eg., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Equity 
Considerations & Racial & Ethnic Minority Groups, 
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-
ethnicity.html (last updated July 24, 2020). 

 
 
 
 
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Recent research correlated COVID-19 and the historic redlining of 
neighborhoods, which caused higher minority presence and higher rates of poverty 
in neighborhoods. The data shows “statistically significant associations between 
greater redlining and pre-existing conditions for heightened risk of morbidity in 
COVID-19 patients like asthma, COPD, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, 
kidney disease, obesity and stroke.”40 Moreover, researchers identified that Black 
and Latinx workers—disproportionately concentrated in employment industries 
that are not able to switch to remote work—are uniquely vulnerable to the 
pandemic.41 These risk factors  put minority populations at greater risk of serious 
illness, hospitalization, and death from contracting the virus.   
As a result of these conditions, Latinx and American Indian/Alaska Native 
people experienced a 2.8 times greater rate of contracting COVID-19 than white 
 
40 National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Redlining and Neighborhood 
Health, https://ncrc.org/holc-health/?mc_cid=a9108bde40&mc_eid=e6da65b132 
(last visited Oct. 8, 2020). 
41 Elise Gould & Valerie Wilson, Black Workers Face Two of the Most Lethal 
Preexisting Conditions for Coronavirus—Racism and Economic Inequality, 
Economic Policy Institute (June 1, 2020), https://www.epi.org/publication/black-
workers-covid/; see also, Elise Gould et al., Latinx Workers Particularly Women—
Face Devastating Job Losses in the COVID-19 Recession, Economic Policy 
Institute (Aug. 20, 2020) https://www.epi.org/publication/latinx-workers-covid/.  

 
 
 
 
23 
 
people in the United States.42 Black people experienced a 2.6 times greater rate of 
COVID-19 cases relative to white people.43 Devastatingly, Black people have died 
from COVID-19 at 2.1 times the rate of white people.44  
In addition to bearing the burden of this health crisis, racial and ethnic 
minorities have suffered more acutely the economic effects of the pandemic. Black 
and Latinx people lost employment and experienced financial strain at a 
significantly higher rate. Approximately, 72% of Latinx households and 60% of 
Black households reported experiencing serious financial problems during the 
pandemic,  compared to 36% of white households.45 63% of Latinx households 
report an adult member of their household lost their job or wages during the 
pandemic, as compared to 46% of households overall.46 These higher rates of 
financial insecurity place renters of color at much higher risk of eviction. 
 
42 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hospitalization and Death by 
Race/Ethnicity, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-
data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-race-
ethnicity.html#footnote01 (last updated Aug. 18, 2020). 
43 Id. 
44 Id. 
45 NPR, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, & Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public 
Health, The Impact of Coronavirus on Households, By Race/Ethnicity 6 (Sept. 
2020), https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/94/2020/09/NPR-
Harvard-RWJF-Race-Ethnicity-Poll_091620.pdf. 
46 Id. at 9. 

 
 
 
 
24 
 
These realities have uniquely intensified housing insecurity for Black and 
Latinx households. Whereas 15% of white households have reported serious 
problems paying their rent or mortgage during the pandemic, 32% of Latinx and 
28% of Black households are facing these problems.47 Immediately preceding the 
CDC Order, 35% of Black households and 34.5% of Latinx households had slight 
or no confidence in their ability to pay next month’s rent, as compared to 18.3% of 
white households.48  
An injunction will undeniably result in substantial harm to the public, and 
will be particularly detrimental for minorities who are at greater risk of being 
unable to pay rent, suffering eviction, and facing serious illness and death from 
COVID-19. Enjoining the CDC’s moratorium runs counter to racial justice efforts 
across the country and will frustrate the public interest in moving toward equality 
for all Americans. 
CONCLUSION 
Without the CDC Order, the country has no uniform policy designed to 
prevent a national eviction crisis that would exacerbate a public health crisis. For 
 
47 Id. at 8. 
48 U.S. Census Bureau, supra note 12. 

 
 
 
 
25 
 
all of the foregoing reasons, the Court should DENY Plaintiffs’ motion for 
preliminary injunctive relief. 
 
Respectfully submitted this 9th day of October, 2020, 
 
Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc. 
 
/s/ Lindsey M. Siegel 
 
 
 
Lindsey M. Siegel (GA Bar No. 730072) 
John O. Gainey (GA Bar No. 258784) 
Charles R. Bliss (GA Bar No. 063385) 
 
246 Sycamore Street, Suite 120 
Decatur, GA 30030 
Ph: (770) 817-7522 
 
National Housing Law Project  
 
 
Eric Dunn (active in Virginia)   
Kate Walz (active in Illinois) 
 
919 E Main Street 
Richmond, VA 23219 
Ph: (415) 546-7000 
Applying for Admission Pro Hac Vice 
 
 
  
Legal Services of Northern Virginia 
Dipti Pidikiti-Smith VSB # 73318 
Jenny Fulmer VSB # 74950 
Flor Salvador VSB # 83320 
 
10700 Page Avenue, Suite 100 
Fairfax, Virginia 22030 
Ph: (703) 684-0738 
Fax: (571) 386-0605 
Applying for Admission Pro Hac Vice 
Counsel for Amici Curiae 

 
 
 
 
26 
 
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE 
 
I hereby certify that the foregoing document was prepared using Times New 
Roman, 14-point, and otherwise conforms to the requirements of Local Rule 5.1. 
/s/ Lindsey M. Siegel 
Lindsey M. Siegel (GA Bar No. 730072) 
 
Attorney for Amici Curiae 
 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 
I hereby certify that on October 9, 2020, I electronically filed the Brief of 
Amici Curiae in Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction using 
the Court’s CM/ECF system, which will automatically send electronic copies to 
the following counsel of record: 
James W. Hawkins 
Georgia State Bar No. 338767 
James W. Hawkins, LLC 
5470 Blair Valley Run 
Cumming, GA 30040 
Ph: (678) 697-1278 
F: (678) 540-4515 
jhawkins@jameswhawkinsllc.com 
 
Caleb Kruckenberg 
New Civil Liberties Alliance 
1225 19th St. NW, Suite 450 
Washington, DC 20036 
Ph: (202) 869-5210 
caleb.kruckenberg@ncla.legal 
Appearing Pro Hac Vice 
Counsel for Plaintiffs 

 
 
 
 
27 
 
 
Leslie Cooper Vigen 
1100 L Street, NW 
Washington, DC 20005 
Ph: (202) 305-0727 
F: (202) 616-8470 
leslie.vigen@usdoj.gov 
Counsel for Defendants 
 
Dated:  October 9, 2020  
  
 
/s/ Lindsey M. Siegel 
Lindsey M. Siegel (GA Bar No. 730072) 
 
Attorney for Amici Curiae

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