Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Friday extending protections against evictions for millions of California renters.
The new state law, SB 91, is an extension of protections first approved in September that were due to expire at the end of the month.
The legislation protects tenants from eviction for nonpayment of rent through June 30, as long as they continue to pay a quarter of what they owe, either monthly or as one lump sum at the end of the next five months.
The bill also lays out a plan to distribute $2.6 billion for low-income tenants who are behind on their rent, and to provide aid to small property owners. Under the plan, landlords can receive 80% of back rent owed if they agree to forgive the remaining 20% and to forego eviction.
Evictions and economic anxiety "that so many people are struggling and suffering through is the issue,” Newsom said at the virtual bill signing, “and we have not lost sight of that.”
Tenant rights organizations, however, have criticized the plan, because they say rent relief hinges on whether landlords agree to participate. If they don’t, the state will only pick up 25% of the back rent owed, and tenants are on the hook for the remaining 75%.
“We are worried about the most vulnerable tenants who maybe have landlords that have been wanting to get them out,” said Francisco Dueñas, the executive director of Housing Now!, a statewide advocacy coalition. “It’s really going to be up to the goodwill of the landlords to decide whether their tenants get the rent relief.”
The bill also allows evictions for other reasons besides falling behind on rent, such as lease violations, nuisance claims and a landlord deciding to remove the property from the rental market.
In the Bay Area, there were at least 527 evictions between the start of the statewide coronavirus lockdown on March 19 and the end of 2020, according to data from sheriff's offices in the Bay Area’s nine counties.