California Eviction Moratorium

Current State law provides eviction and foreclosure protections for many residential tenants and property owners suffering from economic hardship due to COVID-19.  Under the legislation, no tenant can be evicted before Feb. 1, 2021 as a result of rent owed due to a COVID-19 related hardship accrued between March 4 – Aug. 31, 2020, if the tenant provides a declaration of hardship according to the legislation’s timelines. For a COVID-19 related hardship that accrues between Sept. 1, 2020 – Jan. 31, 2021, tenants must also pay at least 25 percent of the rent due to avoid eviction.

However, tenants are still responsible for paying unpaid amounts to landlords, but those unpaid amounts cannot be the basis for an eviction. Landlords may begin to recover this debt on March 1, 2021, and small claims court jurisdiction is temporarily expanded to allow landlords to recover these amounts. Landlords who do not follow the court evictions process will face increased penalties under the law.

More information about the state law’s protections can also be found here: https://landlordtenant.dre.ca.gov/faqs.html.