INFORMATIONAL REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Informational Report Regarding City's Eviction Moratorium and AB 3088 - COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020 [Council Pillar: Promote and Enhance Economic, Housing and Transportation Development]
Report
BACKGROUND
On March 24, 2020, the City Council adopted an Urgency Ordinance, setting in place a moratorium on evictions in the City of Santa Clara for the non-payment of rent and no-fault evictions for tenants affected by COVID-19. The ordinance applies to all residential tenants renting in a building or portion of a building that is used as a home, residence or sleeping place in Santa Clara for periods in excess of seven days. On April 28, 2020, the City Council adopted the Emergency Evictions Protection Ordinance allowing the moratorium to be extended by resolution. On August 18, 2020, the City Council extended the ordinance through September 30, 2020.
On August 31, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill No. 3088, the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020 (Tenant Relief Act), which ensures that tenants unable to pay because of the pandemic cannot be evicted for rents that became due between March 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021, if certain requirements are met. The state law, which went into effect immediately, also temporarily limits the ability of local governments to enact or expand local eviction protections effective before February 1, 2021.
DISCUSSION
The Tenant Relief Act prevents the City from extending its residential eviction moratorium for nonpayment evictions beyond September 30, 2020. Tenants are protected by, and tenants and landlords must follow, the State's requirements and not the City's.
Tenant Relief Act provides protections during the following periods:
* March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020: If a tenant has experienced COVID-19-related financial distress and has not been able to pay part or all of the rent to their landlord between March 1, 2020, and August 31, 2020, the tenant cannot be...
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