Feature your business, services, products, events & news. Submit Website.
Breaking Top Featured Content:
State leaders to unveil eviction moratorium on Friday
A bill to extend a statewide eviction moratorium is expected to be unveiled in the California Legislature Friday morning, just in time for the Senate to meet a deadline to approve the measure, a state landlord group announced Thursday, Aug. 27.
The original extension, Assembly Bill 1436, was held in committee last week to allow high-stakes negotiations to be held between moratorium supporters, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office and landlord groups.
“We’ve been working around the clock with lawmakers and the governor’s office to make sure the legislation is fair and balanced,” said Debra Carlton, executive vice president of state public affairs for the California Apartment Association, which took part in the negotiations.
The Judicial Council, which oversees the California court system, enacted an emergency eviction moratorium April 6 freezing all court actions on eviction cases in the state.
But that rule is set to expire Tuesday, allowing eviction cases to move forward starting on Wednesday unless lawmakers pass an extension.
Called the “COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020,” the compromise bill will be a stopgap measure, halting evictions for tenants facing COVID-related financial hardships through Jan. 31.
AB 1436 would have extended the moratorium until 90 days after the expiration of the pandemic emergency or until next April, whichever is earlier. The bill also would require lenders to give homeowners and landlords 6-12 months forbearance to make mortgage payments.
With the deadline to act looming, negotiators opted for a stopgap approach to give lawmakers time at the start of the next legislative session to work out a long-term solution.
Under the compromise measure, tenants also would be required to pay at least 25% of their rent from September through January, according to landlord groups involved in the negotiations.
Unlike the Judicial Council’s eviction freeze, the proposed extension will apply only to tenants with COVID-related financial hardships.
That means landlords would be able to “evict tenants who wreak havoc at their rental communities,” the CAA post said.
The California Senate has to approve the new moratorium Friday to ensure the Assembly has a print version 72 hours before Monday, Aug. 31, the last day of the 2020 legislative session. The Assembly would have until midnight Monday to approve the bill.
And to take effect immediately, the bill must pass as an “urgency measure,” requiring a two-thirds vote of both houses.
“Our goal has been to provide both help for tenants who are truly affected by COVID-19, as well as compensation for landlords, especially mom and pop owners, at risk of foreclosure after several months without rent payments,” CAA’s Carlton said. “This is a more sensible approach than AB 1436.”
Some AB 1436 supporters, meanwhile, still are hoping the original bill wins passage.
Carlton and Assemblymember David Chiu, D-San Francisco, AB 1436’s lead author, both say the ultimate solution will require federal assistance to provide economic relief to landlords with months of missed rent payments. Aid in the billions will be needed, money the state doesn’t have, Chiu said during committee review of his bill.
“The federal government needs to step up,” Carlton added. “COVID-impacted renters need financial assistance from the feds so they can pay their rent. Otherwise, renters will be hard-pressed to pay the rent that’s accumulated, and housing providers will go out of business.”