El Papel v. City of Seattle

In March of 2020, the city of Seattle imposed the first in a series of emergency orders responding to the threat of COVID-19. The orders prohibited landlords from evicting tenants for nonpayment, expired leases, or any other reason unless the tenant presented "an imminent threat to the health or safety of neighbors, the landlord, or the tenant's or landlord's household members." Under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, states cannot take private property for public use without providing just compensation. A group of rental property owners in Seattle sued the city, arguing that the moratoriums amounted to uncompensated takings. Each of the owners rented out property covered by the moratoriums, and each lost the right to control their own property as a result of the orders.