Lawmakers move bill to extend tenant protections by 7 months

Facing an impending legislative deadline and saying they fear an eviction wave next month, California lawmakers moved a bill Tuesday that attorneys said would allow 4 million tenants to remain in their homes without rent for up to seven more months.

Assembly Bill 1436, authored by Assemblymember David Chiu, D-San Francisco, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 6-0, less than two weeks before the legislative year ends.

The bill was recently endorsed by nine of California's 482 mayors, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

Landlord groups, homeowners' associations and the California Chamber of Commerce largely opposed the legislation during a marathon hearing that began in the morning and continued into the early evening, calling the bill a job killer that would harm small housing providers who are struggling financially and may lose their own homes.

The remote testimony server was temporarily strained as more than 200 landlords and property owners called in to oppose the bill.

AB 1436 would allow some tenants who could show "COVID-19 related financial distress" to stay in their rented properties without paying rent until the pandemic subsides or April 1, 2021 -- whichever is earlier.

The bill would convert unpaid rent into a regular debt that cannot be used as reason for eviction, and landlords would have to wait a year before pursuing civil action to collect back rent owed if the tenant doesn't pay it. The bill also allows those who own four or fewer units who could also show they were prevented from making mortgage payments due to the pandemic to receive a mortgage forbearance for up to a year.

Opponents said small property owners who rely on rental income to pay their bills would be financially burdened if the bill becomes law because the forbearance provisions do not provide any security that the accumulated unpaid rent would be received when the pandemic subsides.

Some also took exception to the bill because it doesn't require a renter to attest to their financial hardship under a penalty of perjury.

Tuesday's hearing comes on the heels of the California Judicial Council's announcement that it would end its temporary ban on foreclosures and evictions on Sept. 1 after months of encouraging lawmakers to pass legislation modeled on the temporary rules. The policy-making arm of the state judiciary established the rules preventing courts from hearing unlawful detainer and foreclosure cases in April after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency due to the pandemic.

Should the rules expire without legislative relief, millions of renters could end up on the streets, proponents of the bill argued Tuesday.

"Our emergency services will have to construct tent cities, refugee centers and take over school gyms to house those that were unable to pay rent," said Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel.

Brian Augusta, an attorney and legislative advocate for the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, said by a conservative estimate, more than 4 million renter households could benefit from the legislation if it became law.

"We should not punish tenants through eviction for something that was beyond their control," Augusta said. "They stayed home. They didn't go to work. We asked them to do that. They've done that and now we need to protect them from eviction."

Chiu said if lawmakers don't pass an eviction relief measure before the Aug. 31 legislative deadline, he fears "there will be a wave of evictions" in the coming months.

With the 6-0 vote, the bill moved to the Senate Rules Committee, where it could be heard this week or next.