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California governor signs a deceptive statewide COVID-19 tenant eviction ban

by Lynda Carson (tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com)
Presently many people throughout California are under orders to shelter-in-place, and must remain at least 6 feet in distance (social distancing) from others because of the coronavirus, and COVID-19. As a result they may have lost their jobs, their income, and can not pay their rent. Do not be fooled by the governors deceptive COVID-19 so-called ban on evictions!
eo_analysis_3.27_wclp_crlaf_drc_final.pdf_600_.jpg
California governor signs a deceptive statewide COVID-19 tenant eviction ban

By Lynda Carson - March 29, 2020

On March 27, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that allegedly prohibits the eviction of renters throughout California who are unable to pay their rent in April because of COVID-19.

Apparently, according to Housing Now!, this is a deceptive order and it does not mean that the landlords can not file and serve an eviction notice if the tenant is late on paying their rent in April.

According to a March 27, 2020, press release from Housing Now!, a coalition of more than 100 organizations.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact- Northern California: Maya Chupkov, maya [at] sfic-409.org , 818-398-5659

Media Contact- Southern California: Ruthie Thomas, ruth.thomas [at] ahf.org , 310-663-4159

“Today, Governor Newsom released an Executive Order on the issue of evictions which fails
to protect tenants from displacement during the COVID-19 crisis. The press release from
the Governor's office mischaracterizes this order as a "moratorium on evictions." That is
extremely dangerous. The order still allows landlords to file and serve evictions - even today
- and does little to nothing to protect tenants. The order also will be impossible to
implement and create needless confusion for tenants, landlords, legal services programs,
and the already overburdened courts.

The order also dangerously muddies the waters for local jurisdictions in the process of
enacting their own, true, eviction moratoriums. Until there is real relief from the state, cities
and counties must continue to move forward to enact real protections for tenants so they
can stay home and keep themselves and their communities safe.

Gov. Newsom’s Executive Order will cause chaos and confusion for tenants and landlords
alike. Landlords will still file for evictions in efforts to protect their interests and aren’t
required to work with tenants to help them stay housed. And tenants will receive a 5 day
summons, with no required notification that they may be entitled to an extension.
Ultimately, courts won’t know if a tenant qualifies for delayed eviction, leaving everyone
confused.

The Executive Order is not a moratorium on evictions - it is a stay of execution. It delays the
inevitable, which is that millions of people will lose their homes.

Gov. Newsom must act now and issue a true eviction moratorium that will keep people in
their homes for the long term. This order will do nothing to stop the impending avalanche
of evictions, lockouts, and displacement across California as tenants face eviction notices
and default judgments during this crisis.”

Presently many people throughout California are under orders to shelter-in-place, and must remain at least 6 feet in distance (social distancing) from others because of the coronavirus, and COVID-19. As a result they may have lost their jobs, their income, and can not pay their rent.

Do not be fooled by the governors deceptive COVID-19 so-called ban on evictions.


Analysis of Executive Order N-37-20 (Issued March 27, 2020) Regarding Evictions, from the Western Center on Law and Poverty, Disability Rights California and the California Rural Legal Aid Foundation.


Executive Order N-37-20 provides no practical help for renters during the COVID-19 pandemic. The order does not provide additional protections for renters who are unable to pay their rent during this crisis or for renters who may be evicted for other reasons or no reason at all. It simply gives some tenants more time to file a response in court, but only if they’ve met required conditions and are aware they have more time. It will be impossible to effectively implement and will create needless confusion in overburdened courts. The order allows many tenants to be evicted now, and simply kicks the can down the road for others, creating a looming wave of evictions that will overwhelm the courts, local jurisdictions, and legal aid programs struggling to respond, threatening to unravel any progress we’ve made on California’s housing and homelessness crisis over the last few years.

The Order:

• Extends the deadline to respond to an eviction summons from five court days to sixty, if the complaint is based on nonpayment of rent and the tenant can establish that they: o Previously paid rent to the landlord.

o Notified the landlord in writing, no more than seven days after the rent was due, that they need to delay all or some of the rent because of a COVID-19 related reason.

o Retain documentation of the COVID-19 related loss of income.

• However, the order does not create any obligation for the landlord to accept the rent at a later date, enter into a payment plan, or otherwise work with the tenant to avoid the eviction.

This means that, until May 31, 2020:

• A landlord can still serve a three-day notice, even if the tenant has told them they can’t pay the rent because of a COVID related income loss.

• A landlord can still file an eviction for nonpayment of rent or any other reason.

• A tenant will still have to file a document—likely an answer—within the regular five days specified within CCP 1167 in order to avoid default judgment.

• A tenant will still have to appear in court to defend the eviction.

• Many tenants will be misled into thinking they have 60 days to respond, but the court will likely enter a default judgment against them if they don’t respond during the first five days.

• Because a landlord is likely to seek default judgment before the tenant can get an extension, this Order does not provide meaningful protection for tenants. Courts have no way of knowing whether tenants have complied with the requirements to obtain more time.

• The order does not require landlords to work with tenants to allow them to pay back-rent, or even suggest a timeline for this. Most local orders provide at least 180 days after the end of the emergency, long after the period the Governor has decided tenants should go to court on these evictions.

• The Order prohibits a Sheriff’s lockout from being enforced through May 31st, but only for tenants who are being evicted for nonpayment who have complied with documentation requirements. This would seem to deputize sheriffs into becoming arbiters of the law, which is unacceptable and impractical. Moreover, it simply does not make sense because it’s unlikely that such a lockout would occur before May 31, and tenants will need protections after that date to deal with the ongoing crisis.

• The reasons for nonpayment deemed acceptable also ignore the realities of the shutdown. For example, families with small children who are not in school are still suffering because they cannot take their children to daycare, or to family members who otherwise would have taken care of those children during work hours.

• Also starkly missing is anything to pause no-fault evictions, such as for renovation of the property, owner move-in, or converting the property to another use, and no-cause evictions. These types of evictions need to be put on hold in order to allow people to shelter in place.

Do not be fooled by the governors deceptive COVID-19 so-called ban on evictions.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

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