An eviction plan

Through no fault of their own, millions of California residents are facing a stressful challenge in paying rent. A lost job or reduced paycheck caused by the coronavirus shutdown makes it hard to meet the monthly housing bill.

It’s important to keep people housed, which is why city and state lawmakers are scrambling for protections against evictions. But that wish can be complicated and carries ripple effects. In fact, the rental market itself may be in flux, producing a surprising drop in costs that could bring relief for worried tenants.

San Francisco is moving swiftly to stem the problem. Supervisors overwhelmingly approved extending a shortterm ban on turning out tenants who can’t pay due a financial squeeze caused by the pandemic. The plan by Supervisor Dean Preston would make that safeguard indefinite though it leaves open serious questions about the impact on landlords who have bills to pay, too.

There are statewide changes brewing. The State Judicial Council may drop its ban on eviction cases in California courts in August. Assemblyman David Chiu, a San Francisco Democrat, is pushing a bill that would step in to bar pandemicrelated evictions. Overdue rent wouldn’t be excused but postponed,

Dropping into the debate is the strangest fact of all. Rents in California’s stratospheric housing market are sinking and not by just a little. One report showed a 9% drop in San Francisco and hints that costs will ease elsewhere in the Bay Area. Add to this another development: North of 90% of tenants paid their June rent on time.

These economic tidings argue that there may not be a wave of evictions brewing at the moment. But as the financial pain continues, or worsens if a second viral surge occurs, there may be more tenants who can’t make ends meet.

Protecting renters is a humane step during an unparalleled crisis. Eviction controls have a place in housing policy.