More renters in Richmond may soon be protected from evictions after the City Council on Tuesday approved directing city staff to draft stronger eviction protections for tenants during the pandemic.
Despite statewide protections that prevent tenants from eviction for nonpayment of rent if they claim a financial hardship, evictions are still occurring. Contra Costa County evicted 135 people between the beginning of the pandemic and the end of 2020, the second-highest number of evictions across the Bay Area. That’s according to a KQED analysis of sheriff lockouts that was cited in the council member’s report.
Richmond does not currently have a local moratorium in place, and earlier eviction protections expired last September. Renters remain vulnerable to eviction for lease violations, no-fault evictions or rent debt that predated the pandemic.
“Without robust COVID-19 eviction protections, Richmond residential tenants will continue to be at risk of eviction during the pandemic and inequity and instability will grow,” Richmond City Council members Gayle McLaughlin and Melvin Willis wrote in a memo supporting stronger protections.