With a statewide moratorium on court eviction hearings poised to end as soon as Friday, housing advocates are warning that millions of California renters could lose their homes unless Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers quickly enact more protections.
A wide-range of community advocates, labor, local elected officials and faith leaders on Tuesday urged Newsom to issue an executive order delaying evictions and also voiced support for a bill granting relief to tenants and landlords during the Covid pandemic.
Advocates say evictions will hit quickly and hardest on communities of color. About three-quarters of Black and Latinx renter households in California have experienced job losses due to the pandemic, according to a recent study by the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation.
Many minority residents are facing profound economic insecurity, even while performing essential jobs in retail, construction and health care. “Communities of color have been on the forefront of battling this pandemic,” said Christian Ramirez of SEIU United Service Workers West. Yet the workers are typically living paycheck-to-paycheck, and undocumented families have been reluctant or unable to receive government aid.
The Judicial Council of California in April placed a moratorium on virtually all eviction court hearings, essentially postponing displacement of tenants who have not paid rent during the pandemic. The judicial council at a meeting in July announced they would reconsider the moratorium soon, but no special meeting has been scheduled for the issue.
Lawmakers believe the judicial council order could be rescinded as soon as Friday, allowing evictions to proceed in courts around the state. More than 100 California counties and cities — including most Bay Area governments — have other renter protections that could delay legal actions against tenants.
Newsom said this week he is working on a fix with lawmakers to extend protections.
A bill authored by Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco) would prohibit evictions until 90 days after the pandemic emergency has been lifted. The bill, AB 1436, encourages landlords and tenants to work out payment agreements, and allows landlords to sue in civil court for back rent accumulated during the crisis.
The bill has been vigorously opposed by coalition of commercial and residential landlords and developers, who argued in a letter to Chiu last week that the bill would not help struggling landlords and essentially provide tenants free rent.
“The bill does not provide for – nor is it tied to – any funding to help tenants and landlords with the unpaid rent. There is no way many rental property owners will be able to keep their buildings from foreclosure,” wrote members of the coalition, which includes the California Apartment Association and the California Business Properties Association.
Bay Area counties are also considering extensions to renter protections. On Tuesday, Santa Clara County supervisors voted to consider extending its moratorium on evictions, which is scheduled to expire on Aug. 31.
