The United States Supreme Court has issued a ruling striking down the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's nationwide moratorium on evictions of residential tenants in counties with high levels of COVID-19 transmission. The CDC's order was set to expire on October 3rd but is no longer enforceable after the Supreme Court's ruling. This is a developing story, and we'll update you with any additional information that may affect Texas tenants.

Tenants who were previously protected under the CDC moratorium from evictions due to nonpayment may now be at risk of eviction. If you're facing eviction or think you may be at risk of an eviction suit in the future, you may want to review our resources for finding help and information on the eviction. 

Where Can I Read the Supreme Court's Opinion?

The court's opinion for Alabama Assn. of Realtors v. Department of Health and Human Servs. is available on the U.S. Supreme Court's opinions page. You can also find a breakdown of the CDC order's legal journey in a recent blog post on the SCOTUSblog, an independent news blog that covers the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Fight an Eviction

We've covered the CDC moratorium's protections in detail on the Eviction page of our COVID-19 and Texas Law guide, but this page also lists legal help options, sample forms and toolkits, and other types of assistance from legal aid organizations and other groups that assist with fighting eviction.

The Eviction Process

Our Landlord/Tenant Law guide includes several pages on different eviction issues and is a good place to start for basic information about the eviction process. We define important terms, link to relevant Texas laws that govern different parts of the eviction process, explain timeframes and steps in the process, and include information on appealing an eviction.

Find Legal Help

If you're not sure what you need to do to fight your eviction or need help, you should consider asking a lawyer for assistance. You can find information on contacting an attorney through legal clinics, hotlines, and more on the Legal Help section of our website. We also have a COVID-19 Legal Aid page for COVID-19 related legal assistance.

We list various legal advocacy organizations across Texas that can help with housing issues on the Housing page of our Legal Advocacy Organizations guide. You may also want to contact a legal clinic or call a legal hotline for help.

If you still have questions, you can contact our Ask a Librarian program for help.