California Court Leaders Suspend Evictions Statewide

In response to the coronavirus pandemic,the California Judicial Council adopted an emergency court rule that effectively stops all evictions, other than those necessary to protect public health and safety. The rule is applicable to all courts and to all unlawful detainer actions, whether they are based on a tenant’s missed rent payment or another reason. This new court rule will apply until 90 days after the Governor lifts the state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic, or until it is amended or repealed by the Judicial Council.

In addition, the Judicial Council adopted an emergency rule related to foreclosures. This rule also applies until 90 days after the Governor lifts the COVID-19 state of emergency.

For further details and the full text of the court rule, see here.

CAA information during Covid-19 pandemic

The California Apartment Association is providing timely information for rental housing professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • CAA’s main Covid-19 Resource page is here.

  • CAA has published free, short webinars on issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic that affect rental housing providers. There is no need to register for these free webinars, and more will be posted online as soon as they become available.

  • CAA offers a sample letter to provide to tenants during the pandemic

Statewide moratorium on evictions for non-payment of rent

On March 27, 2020, Governor Newsom issued an executive order banning the enforcement of eviction orders for renters affected by COVID-19 through May 31, 2020. The order prohibits landlords from evicting tenants for nonpayment of rent and prohibits enforcement of evictions by law enforcement or courts. It also requires tenants to declare in writing, no more than seven days after the rent comes due, that the tenant cannot pay all or part of their rent due to COVID-19.

More details can be found here.

Marin County moratorium on evictions for non-payment of rent

On March 24, 2020, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution which prevents County residents and business owners from being evicted because of a sudden loss of income tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. The moratorium will be in effect until May 31. The resolution applies to all of Marin, including cities, towns, and unincorporated areas.

More details can be found here.

San Rafael City Council reviews anti-discrimination for recipients of rental subsidies

At their October 1, 2018 meeting, the San Rafael City Council discussed development of an ordinance barring discrimination against rental applicants who use Section 8 or other vouchers towards paying for rent.

Andrew Hening, Director of Homeless Planning and Outreach, began the session with a presentation. He summarized the goals and history of the Section 8 voucher program as well as typical results. He showed examples of current online ads for San Rafael rentals which specifically stated "No Section 8" applicants.

The Mayor and four members of the City Council expressed general support for a source-of-rental-income anti-discrimination ordinance.

During the public comment period, representatives from the Community Development Agency of Marin County and Legal Aid of Marin advocated for widespread adoption of uniform protections for tenants.

Historically, the Marin Board of Supervisors has taken the lead on rental housing measures, and once they pass an ordinance, supporters then urge local city councils to follow suit with a similar measure. The cities of Fairfax and Novato passed their own anti-discrimination ordinances on source-of-rental-income earlier in 2018.

Leelee Thomas, planning manager of the CDA, spoke in support of a San Rafael ordinance, providing information on the County's source-of-rental-income anti-discrimination ordinance, as well as responding to numerous questions posed by Council members.

There were concerns expressed by some Council members over the possible unintended consequences of a broadly applied ordinance. In particular, questions were raised whether Junior Accessory Dwelling Units and Accessory Dwelling Units should be covered by a possible ordinance.

It was noted that JADU's and ADU's are a potentially large resource for increasing rental stock in San Rafael. But as these types of rentals are so new, there is little information on what factors influence a homeowners decision to create a JADU or ADU. Some members noted that they did not wish to discourage creation of JADU’s/ADU’s. The question was implied, “Would an individual homeowner be less inclined to offer a JADU/ADU if the process became more complex, more bureaucratic, and more risky in terms of costs and legal penalties?”

The City Council directed staff to return at a future meeting with more information addressing the issues raised.

The full agenda for the City Council meeting can be viewed here.

The proceedings of the session, 7a. Rental Discrimination, discussing source-of-income anti-discrimination can be viewed/streamed from this link.

To read more about the meeting, here is a story in the IJ.