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Landlords Seek $1.5B Payback for Pandemic Eviction Ban

Landlords Seek $1.5B Payback for Pandemic Eviction Ban

Property owners say eviction freezes left them footing the bill.

Nina Dale
May 06, 2026

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Good morning. What started as a public health safeguard is now a billion-dollar legal battle. Landlords say the government owes them for lost rent, and they’re closer than ever to a deal.

🎙️This Week on No Cap: Harbor Group International’s Richard Litton breaks down scaling to $21B, the shift from office to credit, and where he’s finding opportunity in a reset CRE market.

CRE Trivia 🧠

Which REIT was the first ever listed on the NYSE?

(Answer at the bottom of the newsletter)

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LINCOLN

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Market Snapshot

S&P 500

GSPC

7,259.22

Pct Chg:
+0.81%

FTSE NAREIT

FNER

837.15

Pct Chg:
+0.28%

10Y Treasury

TNX

4.424%

Pct Chg:
-0.022

SOFR

30-DAY AVERAGE

3.65%

Pct Chg:
-0.00

*Data as of 5/05/2026 market close.

Vacancy Plateau

Landlords Seek $1.5B Payback for Pandemic Eviction Ban

Property owners are seeking up to $1.5B in compensation, arguing COVID-era eviction bans unfairly shifted financial burdens onto them.

The legal fight gains traction: More than 1,500 landlords have revived a federal lawsuit claiming the CDC’s eviction moratorium violated the Fifth Amendment by denying compensation. After losing in 2022, they won on appeal and are now negotiating potential settlements with the Justice Department.

The financial toll on landlords: Owners say the moratorium—from September 2020 to July 2021—drove major rent losses, forcing many to take on debt, delay maintenance, or sell. Industry estimates total losses at $57B, with some landlords missing millions in income.

Tenant protections vs. property rights: Housing advocates say the policy prevented displacement and slowed the spread of COVID, with research suggesting homelessness rose 11% in 2022 and could have hit 20% without it. Landlords counter that $46.5B in rental aid was slow and insufficient.

Lingering shifts in rental housing: Years later, landlords say they’re tightening screening, avoiding higher-risk tenants, and sometimes exiting the market. Longer eviction timelines and fraud concerns are making owners more cautious, potentially limiting access for lower-income renters.

➥ THE TAKEAWAY

Who pays? The outcome of this case could set a precedent for how far government can go in emergency housing policy, and who ultimately pays when public health priorities collide with private property rights.

A MESSAGE FROM BUILDOUT

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✍️ Editor’s Picks

Move with speed: Don't let paperwork kill your deal flow. Autogenerate PPMs and track signatures instantly with a unified platform built to simplify every stage of the lifecycle. (sponsored)
Distress dip: CMBS delinquency edged down to 7.54% in April 2026 as gains in lodging and retail offset rising multifamily and industrial stress, while office levels remained elevated.
Reit rally: REITs surged 9% in April and continued to outperform broader markets year-to-date, driven by a broad-based recovery led by office, data centers, and lodging sectors.
All-in-one upgrade: Put investor updates, banking, reports, and workflows on autopilot with an AI co-pilot that actually executes, not just suggests. (sponsored)
Sunbelt surge: Southern cities like Birmingham and Tampa lead graduate hiring with strong job growth and affordability despite an uneven recovery.
Momentum stalls: CRE markets are losing steam as elevated rates, tighter capital, and rising distress weigh on deal activity, despite selective investor interest and pockets of resilience across sectors.
Investor trap: A Colliers-linked scheme allegedly drew retirees into risky CRE deals that collapsed, sparking lawsuits and major losses.

🏘️ MULTIFAMILY

Demand disconnect: Slowing household formation is weakening apartment demand despite job growth, shifting rent gains toward supply-constrained markets where scarcity is driving performance.
Office pivot: JBG Smith plans to replace a Tysons office building with 375 apartments and retail, advancing its strategy to reposition outdated offices into mixed-use assets.
Premium persists: NYC rents remain about 75% above the U.S. average, with the premium rebounding post-pandemic as demand for proximity and high-wage jobs strengthens.

🏭 Industrial

Logistics leap: Amazon launched full-scale supply chain services for external businesses, leveraging its vast network to compete directly in the global third-party logistics market.
Lien clarity: Maryland passed new laws giving self-storage operators clearer processes to handle tenant nonpayment and lease violations, strengthening enforcement tools starting July 2026.
Spec build: Dedeaux and Tejon Ranch are launching a 510K SF speculative warehouse in SoCal, expanding industrial capacity at the fully leased Tejon Ranch Commerce Center.

🏬 RETAIL

Retail shift: Tidal revised its Raleigh tower plans to add more retail and fewer apartments, capitalizing on tight retail vacancy and strong leasing demand.
Brooklyn overhaul: A developer proposed a 1.2M SF mixed-use project with nearly 1,000 apartments to replace an East Flatbush retail strip, advancing a long-term rezoning play.
Smart tenants: AI is making retailers more efficient and resilient, strengthening their appeal as lower-risk, long-term net lease investments.

🏢 OFFICE

Banking footprints: AI-driven staffing changes, hybrid work, and ongoing consolidation are pushing banks to downsize and rethink office and branch real estate strategies toward leaner, peak-usage space planning.
Leasing surge: Cousins Properties is seeing record office leasing activity as corporate migration, return-to-office mandates, and scarce high-quality supply push rents and occupancy sharply higher.
Fraud fallout: A software firm hit with a fraud judgment is listing its 189K SF Broward HQ, deepening negative office absorption in South Florida.
Distressed bargain: A Chicago investor is acquiring a 62%-leased Loop office tower at a steep discount to debt value amid ongoing distress-driven trading in the downtown market.

🏨 HOSPITALITY

Hotel expansion: MetroNational continues its acquisition push, teaming with Rockbridge to buy The Moran Hotel in Houston’s CityCentre, strengthening its growing hospitality and mixed-use portfolio.
Pod push: Vancouver is considering a 22-story, 30-foot-wide “nano hotel” packed with micro-pods, signaling growing demand for ultra-dense, budget hospitality formats in urban cores.
Oceanfront financing: Trinity Investments and Sculptor Real Estate close an $835M acquisition of the JW Marriott Marco Island resort, backed by a $690M CMBS loan from Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

📈 CHART OF THE DAY

Public REIT returns consistently lead private ODCE fund performance, with sharper, earlier swings from 2022–2026 while private market valuations lag behind.

CRE Trivia (Answer)🧠

Continental Mortgage Investors was listed on the NYSE in 1965.

Landlords Seek $1.5B Payback for Pandemic Eviction Ban

Property owners say eviction freezes left them footing the bill.

CRE Trivia 🧠