Sacramento County considers temporary eviction ban against renters impacted by coronavirus

Sacramento County may soon temporarily ban evictions against renters financially impacted by the widening coronavirus pandemic.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will consider Tuesday a resolution and an ordinance that would temporarily ban evictions against renters who are unable to pay their rent because they have had a sudden loss in income related to COVID-19.

Cities and counties across California — including San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles — have been quickly passing emergency rules prohibiting similar evictions in their jurisdictions, as the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus has threatened the economy and led to mass layoffs and hour reductions in the workforce.

Sacramento County’s emergency ordinance proposal is largely modeled off the city of Sacramento’s, which passed Tuesday. The emergency ordinance requires four out of five votes to pass, while the resolution would only require a simple majority, but would be less legally enforceable.

Board chair Phil Serna, who is bringing the ordinance to the supervisors, said the temporary evictions ban is necessary to avoid an increase in the homeless population, especially as Sacramento County and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have issued formal orders to all residents to stay home except for essential chores and work.

“It’s difficult, if not impossible, to stay in one’s home if you’ve lost your ability to pay rent and then can’t actually abide by the legal and enforceable public health order” because you’ve been evicted, Serna said.

“Now what you’re seeing is local governments doing everything they can to ... sequentially and as fast as possible deal with the consequences of those orders,” he said.

Renters covered in the proposed emergency ban are those who can demonstrate they lost income because:

▪ They were sick with COVID-19, or caring for a family member sick with COVID-19.

▪ They experienced a layoff, loss of hours or other income reduction resulting from COVID-19 or the state of emergency.

▪ They were complying with a recommendation from a government agency to stay home, self quarantine or avoid congregating with others during the state of emergency.

▪ They needed to miss work to care for a home-bound school-age child.

Tenants would have up to 120 days, or about four months, after the state of emergency declaration ends to pay the deferred rent. The declaration is currently set to end May 21, meaning the rent would be due Sept. 21.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors considered a emergency temporary moratorium on certain no-fault evictions last winter, after tenants and housing advocates argued property owners were using the evictions to hike up rents before a new state law capping rent increases went into effect.

That proposal failed to receive the required supermajority vote to pass, with Supervisors Sue Frost and Susan Peters rejecting the ordinance. Serna said even if the proposed ordinance providing relief to renters fails Tuesday, the resolution needs only a simple majority to pass, and landlords will still have to follow the spirit of it.

“The context is entirely different,” Serna said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. “I’m hoping that difference resonates with my colleagues.”

The evictions ban would be in effect in unincorporated communities of the county. The city of Elk Grove considered a similar ban but City Council rejected the proposal during its meeting this week.

This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 4:29 PM.