Extension of eviction protection sought

Lawmakers working on relief package for landlords, tenants

Amid the deepening economic costs of the pandemic, California lawmakers are proposing a lengthy extension of the statewide eviction moratorium and are working on the outlines for a landlord and tenant relief package.

A bill introduced Monday by Assemblymember David Chiu, D-San Francisco, would extend California’s eviction moratorium until the end of 2021 for renters struggling with job losses or illness. Tenants will still be required to pay at least one- quarter of their rent to be covered by the protections. Other new bills presented by senior lawmakers are expected to address more financial help for the most vulnerable tenants and small landlords.

“This pandemic is not only not over, people are still unemployed,” said Chiu, chair of the housing and community development committee. He noted studies showing millions of Californians at risk of losing their homes. “It’s a public health issue and also a moral issue.”

The new proposals extend the pitched legislative debate over how to balance public health goals while avoiding a collapse in the rental industry and the potential for widespread homelessness and housing insecurity. State lawmakers in August cobbled together a two-thirds emergency vote in both chambers limiting evictions through the end of next month and won the approval of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

But advocates for landlords and tenants, as well as state officials, fear a growing crisis without a federal relief package. Negotiations between Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and Republican Senate leaders have been mired in a monthslong standstill.

Tenant advocates have been encouraging wider protections, while landlords have been urging caution at extending the moratorium enacted just three months ago. Many small landlords say they’re struggling to pay mortgages and maintenance on properties as tenants fall further behind on rent.

Debra Carlton, a lobbyist for the California Apartment Association, said the organization prefers a statewide approach to an eviction moratorium, but

not necessarily an extension through next year.

“A more gradual extension — perhaps quarter by quarter — would be more appropriate given the fact that a vaccine is on the way,” Carlton said. “Extending the current sunset date by 60 to 90 days is a better approach and will also give us more time to work out more details for legislation.”

Sam Tepperman-Gelfant, managing attorney at the nonprofit Public Advocates, said an extension of the moratorium is warranted by the growing pandemic. Keeping tenants in their homes is vital to protecting the public health, he said.

“The COVID crisis is worse than ever,” Tepperman-Gelfant said. “People are just in dire, dire circumstances.”

Chiu’s bill would extend the moratorium from Jan. 31 to Dec. 31, 2021, for tenants facing COVID-related hardships. Landlords would be able to sue to recover lost rent but would not be able to evict tenants for nonpayment as long as the renters pay one- quarter of their rent starting in September of this year. Evictions could resume for nonpayment on Jan. 1, 2022.

The original emergency law, AB 3088, also requires tenants to sign a declaration stating they have lost income or suffered illness during the health crisis.

Both landlord and tenant advocates have been calling for federal aid, saying only Congress can provide the size and scale of aid needed. A recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia estimated 1.3 million tenant households in the U. S. will have piled up $7.2 billion in unpaid rent this year.

In San Francisco and the East Bay, more than half of renter households reported losing income due to the pandemic, according to research by the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley. About 1 in 10 renters in the San Francisco metro area in August reported being behind on their rents.

Chiu also plans to introduce a measure to establish a framework on distributing rental assistance. Similar bills are expected to be introduced in the state senate. The emergency measures would need approval from two-thirds of the legislature and the governor’s signature to be enacted.