Sacramento tenants still struggle to pay rent. But an eviction moratorium is set to expire
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When the coronavirus crisis hit in March, Carlos and his wife were suddenly out of work. The barber shop where he works was shut down, and so was the dentist office where his wife works. They were expecting a baby any day and had no idea how to pay rent.
An eviction moratorium allowed the couple to delay paying the full rent for their Arden-Arcade apartment in April and May. But now, the full June rent is due on the first of the month, and they’re both still out of work.
“Without having money, I don’t know what to do now or what to do next, so it’s gotten difficult,” said Carlos, who did not want his last name published out of concern for losing his job.
In order to pay the June rent of $1,175, Carlos said he had to sell some of his belongings, including those he might need when the barber shop reopens, such as clippers and barber capes.
Sacramento started loosening its stay-at-home orders this week, but salons are not yet allowed to open until the county hits additional benchmarks to enter the next phase of reopenings. Many low-wage workers in Sacramento are still out of work. The unemployment rate in the Sacramento region hit 4.7 percent in March, up from 3.8 percent in February, according to the most recent available data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But some measures officials put in place at the start of the crisis to protect tenants from eviction are set to expire.
The statewide residential eviction moratorium, in addition to local moratoriums in the city and county of Sacramento, are set to expire May 31, according to government officials. Those protections allowed renters to delay payment of their April and May rents if they could show documentation proving they were financially impacted by the virus. But for June, renters will need to pay on time or risk eviction.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg wants the city to extend its eviction moratorium for residential tenants.
“We are only at the beginning of this recovery, and the residential eviction ordinance must be extended,” Steinberg said in a statement to The Sacramento Bee. “Nobody should lose the roof over their head because of COVID-19.”
The City Council could vote to extend the moratorium at its meeting Tuesday. The city’s eviction moratorium for commercial tenants would still expire May 31. If the City Council extends the city’s eviction moratorium and Gov. Gavin Newsom does not extend a statewide order, the city’s moratorium would only apply to rental units built before Feb. 2, 1995, due to the Costa Hawkins Act, said Sheryl Patterson, a senior deputy attorney for the city.
It’s unclear if Sacramento County will extend its eviction moratorium. The Board of Supervisors’ next meeting is June 2.
Eviction moratoriums in Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove and West Sacramento are also set to expire May 31, unless Newsom extends the statewide executive order.
Evictions delayed, not avoided
If the eviction moratoriums are not extended, there likely will not be a surge of evictions starting next month. But such a surge could occur later in the year.
The California Judicial Council last month issued a set of rules prohibiting courts across the state from processing evictions until 90 days after the statewide emergency proclamation is lifted or unless the council amends or repeals the order. Newsom has not yet announced a date to lift that proclamation.
In Sacramento County, under the current reopening plan, landlords could file unlawful detainer actions, which legally initiate the eviciton process, starting June 14, said Kim Pedersen, court spokeswoman. In Yolo County, landlords can file them any time. But both counties are following the judicial council rules, meaning the courts cannot process the actions. That’s protecting tenants from eviction, for now.
When the courts get the green light to process the paperwork, though, renters could be evicted for not paying rent in June or future months not protected by the moratorium, said Tina Lee-Vogt, a city of Sacramento program manager who oversees the city’s moratorium.
“It’s delaying the action but not necessarily the consequence,” Lee-Vogt said of the judicial council action.
Renters who did not pay rent in April or May and took the steps to be covered by the eviction moratoriums could also be evicted if they do not repay the back rent by Sept. 30, under the current version of the city eviction moratorium.
The California Apartment Association sent a letter opposing the decision to the members of the judicial council.
“When rent goes unpaid, it forces a rental owner to make difficult choices that could put the property into default, which isn’t good for the provider or the resident,” the association said in a statement to The Bee.
While the moratorium only applied to tenants economically impacted by coronavirus, the judicial council’s mandated pause on evictions applies to all renters, the association pointed out.
The association instead supports a bill proposed in the state Senate that would provide state tax credits to landlords, allowing rent to be forgiven for tenants financially impacted by the crisis.
Should moratoriums be extended?
Kendra Lewis, executive director of the Sacramento Housing Alliance, is urging city, county and state officials to extend the moratoriums through the end of 2020, or at least through the summer. Although Sacramento has started loosening its stay-at-home order, there could be a surge in cases that triggers officials to tighten restrictions again, placing more low-wage workers back into unemployment.
“The moratorium is just critical until we feel we are through this,” Lewis said. “I don’t think we have a choice.”
Los Angeles County, which has not yet started loosening its stay-at-home order, extended its eviction moratorium through June, and may extend it longer.
If the moratorium is extended, though, it will be difficult for Sacramento landlords, many of whom rely on monthly rental payments to pay their mortgages, said Louise May, an employee for a Sacramento property management company. Owners who have smaller banks that are not allowing them to pay mortgages late are especially hurting, she said.
“Some of them are literally down to the penny,” said May, whose company manages about 30 units for about 25 owners.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhy we did this story
Tens of thousands of renters in California have lost their jobs. As the coronavirus pandemic continues, how many will be able to make their rent payments in June?
There are statewide battles brewing between renters and landlords. Property owners could lose their properties if the economy continues to sputter. And some renter groups say state and local eviction bans don’t go far enough. Meanwhile, eviction bans passed at the state and local levels are set to expire.
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Some owners have provided deals to renters that are even better for the tenants than the moratorium, May said. For one rental in Fair Oaks, the tenant is a contractor whose business “virtually stopped” when the virus hit, May said. The owner allowed him to pay a reduced rent and is not requiring him to pay back the rest, May said.
“They recognize the dire situation that pretty much everyone is in and they would rather work with a tenant than try to get new tenants in a market that isn’t really open to that,” May said of local rental property owners.
The Sacramento City Council could also use a portion of its $89 million federal government coronavirus stimulus check toward helping renters. Steinberg in his proposal suggested some of that money be used to help renters, part of a $20 million category he envisions for housing and homelessness.
Councilman Larry Carr has said he wants to use “a good portion” of the $89 million for creating a renters’ assistance program, which would cover rent payments that tenants could not pay during the time they were unemployed.
“I think it’s critical we do this,” Carr told the council earlier this month. “I think a good portion of the money should go to that effort.”
Sacramento Housing Alliance and United Latinos echoed that request in a letter to the council last week.
The council will likely decide how to spend the federal stimulus money in stages over the coming months.
Sacramento County also received a federal stimulus check, for about $181 million.
This story was changed June 5 to correct the deadline for back-rent pay.
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
