OAKLAND — Renters fearing displacement amid the coronavirus pandemic got some relief Tuesday when Alameda County supervisors beefed up a temporary moratorium on evictions to include preventing those happening without cause.
“There are things we are doing now that we would not typically do,” Supervisor Nate Miley said, referring to the health crisis. “And I think the same thing relates to this ordinance.”
While the aim is to keep a roof over people’s heads, landlords still can evict people in some circumstances, such as for health and safety reasons, which can include criminal behavior, as well as if a landlord plans to go out of the rental business and plans to take the unit off the market.
The board’s action Tuesday amended an urgency ordinance that it enacted March 24 in response to the coronavirus and which put a temporary moratorium on evictions because of the health crisis.
The updated ordinance will take effect immediately and will end within 90 days, or when the county lifts its emergency declaration declared March 4.
“It’s absolutely important that the county makes sure as many people as possible are not made homeless,” Leah Simon-Weisberg of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment told supervisors. “And it absolutely makes sense that when we are facing this kind of emergency, everyone enjoys the same kind of protection.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
