San Francisco renters likely to get 60-day extension of Covid eviction moratorium

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As pandemic emergency orders end, local governments in the Bay Area are trying to loosen eviction protection for tenants.

In San Francisco, Supervisor Dean Preston has introduced new legislation that will extend the local moratorium on evictions to 60 days after Mayor London Breed lifts the state of emergency that has been in place since February 2020.

An ordinance passed by the Supervisory Board last year protects tenants from eviction indefinitely for non-payment of rent due to the pandemic between July 1, 2022 and after the end of the state of emergency. The legislation also prohibits landlords from charging late fees, fines or similar fees to tenants who are unable to pay rent after July 2022 due to Covid.

It’s not certain when the mayor’s emergency declaration will end, but the likely deadline is May 11, when the Biden administration plans to lift the federal emergency.

Regardless, the ruling is meant to ensure what Preston calls a “wind-down period” for San Francisco residents to stay in their homes and give them time to access rental assistance funds.

“If we allow the remedies to expire overnight and without warning, we will slide right off the eviction cliff,” Preston said in a statement.

By comparison, Berkeley voted to extend the moratorium until the end of August, and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted to have its protection expire at the end of April.

“Extending these protections for 60 days after the state of emergency is declared is a win-win situation as it causes no real harm to anyone, as unpaid rent can be collected even if it cannot be evicted,” said Ora Prochovnik, director of litigation and policy at Eviction Defense Collaborative. in a statement.

Local eviction moratoriums have been criticized by some property owners who have said they have created financial hardship for homeowners. Some have filed lawsuits to limit the policy.

Ann Stanley, communications manager for the Mayor’s Housing Authority, said San Francisco’s Emergency Rent Assistance Program – the city’s local rental assistance fund – has served more than 6,070 families in San Francisco, receiving more than $47.2 million in financial assistance. dollars.

This leaves about $24 million in the fund when the app portal is scheduled to reopen after it was suspended in September due to a backlog of pending applications.

Unlike an eviction moratorium, which only protects against eviction for non-payment of rent due to pandemic hardships, a local landlord relief fund has much broader rights.

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