Mayor calls for moratorium on evictions
In response to coronavirus worries, the temporary order would be in effect for at least 30 days
Concerned about how the coronavirus could worsen the city’s affordable housing and homeless crisis, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has proposed a moratorium on the evictions of residents facing significant financial burdens because of the global pandemic.
If approved by a majority of council members Tuesday, the temporary moratorium would be in effect for at least 30 days and would protect residents who can document that they cannot pay rent because of a substantial loss of income related to the virus. If it’s enacted, the city will evaluate extending the eviction moratorium each month.
“Anyone who has lost income and is no longer able to pay rent, we want to do everything we can to keep them housed,” Liccardo said during a news conference Friday. “We know it’s a public health and public safety issue if thousands of residents are being pushed out onto the street.”
Under the proposed moratorium, affected residents would be required to notify their landlords on or before their rent is due of their inability to pay their bill in time. The residents also would be required to show documents such as pay stubs and notes from employers to be covered.
The mayor submitted his memo just hours after the city announced it had progressed to stage 4 — or “high response level” — of its pandemic response plan. Under the plan, the city will begin sending out reports on its website and through social media with updates on the state of the pandemic, new precautionary measures and event cancellations at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. every day moving forward.
“These are tough times
that we know we are going to have to endure in the weeks ahead, and we’re going to get through it, but we’re going to get through it together,” Liccardo said.
In a statement Friday, the California Apartment Association said it supported the effort and would try to encourage its membership of landlords to be “mindful of their tenants who are suffering as a result of the virus.”
“This is a difficult period, and everyone has a responsibility to do their part as we work towards halting the spread of the virus,” Anil Babbar, vice president of public affairs for the Association, said in a statement. “We call upon our financial institutions, utilities and other organizations to take similar efforts to ease the economic impact that this virus has caused.”
City Council member Johnny Khamis said he plans to support the moratorium for now but he wants to see the city develop a better plan for the long term.
“I understand the mayor’s concerns, but we also don’t want people to lose their businesses, especially those mom and pop landlords, because their obligations to the banks aren’t going away,” Khamis said.
The number of known cases in Santa Clara County grew to 24 this week — the highest of any other Bay Area county.
Of the 24 total cases, five cases are travel-related, 10 cases involve contact with a person who had the virus, seven cases involve a patient with no known travel history or close contact with a patient and two are still under investigation.
At a news conference Thursday, Santa Clara County officials called for a new measure to prevent
the spread of the virus from further spreading throughout the community, including canceling large events and gatherings such as concerts, sports games and conferences.
They also urged employers to suspend nonessential employee travel, minimize employees working within arm’s length of one another and allow employees to work from home whenever possible. Other recommendations included avoiding visiting hospitals, long-term care facilities or nursing homes as much as possible.
The measures were added on top of a warning this week by county public health officials for those over age 50 or with poor health conditions to avoid large public gatherings.
At a news conference Friday, Liccardo urged residents, employers and event organizers to follow the county’s advice.
“We do not as a city have control over tenants of city facilities, so we do not have the authority to shut down public events,” Liccardo said. “… But my view is that all public events should be shut down.”
San Jose city officials also announced Friday that they were canceling a youth career fair planned at the Fairmont in Downtown San Jose today and that the Senior Nutrition Program will transition to a to-go delivery format until further notice. The city also is restricting all nonessential travel for employees until the end of April.
It’s not the first time the city has explored placing a temporary moratorium on evictions during a time of crisis.
During the federal shutdown in January 2019, the city attempted to enact similar protections for affected residents, but the shutdown ended the following day.