2020.06.11;四Jun11th:San Francisco supervisors make COVID-19 eviction moratorium permanent

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San Francisco supervisors make COVID-19 eviction moratorium permanent

By and KTVU staff
|Published 1 day ago

SF eviction moratorium now permanent

San Francisco, eviction is off the table when it comes to COVID-19. The Board of Supervisors made the moratorium permanent on Tuesday. But tenants would still have to pay back rent to their landlords.
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco has taken a major step toward preventing tenants from being evicted for not paying their rent due to coronavirus.
The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to approve the eviction prevention by a 10-1 margin. What that means is if a tenant can't pay their rent because of coronavirus they can't be evicted, but those tenants will have to pay up eventually.
More than 100,000 San Franciscans have filed for unemployment, an indication of just how deeply the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the city's economy. Still, a recent survey from  San Francisco Apartment Association showed that nearly 97% of renters paid their rent in May.
Now, the Board of Supervisors have taken a step aimed at preventing evictions for tenants who can't pay their rent due to to the pandemic. The board of supervisors voting 10 to one in favor of a permanent ban on evicting tenants if they can't pay because of coronavirus related reasons.
San Francisco District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston authored the legislation and says it's aimed at preventing one crisis following another. "We want to make sure that the current COVID crisis doesn't end up being a displacement crisis," said Supervisor Preston.The legislation applies to residential properties, and doesn't mean the tenants don't owe back rent.
"We're taking eviction off the table," said Supervisor Preston. "We're saying the rent is still owed. Landlords and tenants can continue to discuss, work out payment plans figure that out. But, people shouldn't be fearful right now."
Real estate attorney Manny Fishman says the new ordinance doesn't mean that property owners are powerless, they can still sue for back rent even if  they can't evict that tenant for non-payment.
"It doesn't give the tenants a free pass," said Fishman. "This is still money that is owed, and if a tenant moves out and doesn't pay it, or just tries to walk out on the debt a landlord will make a report to a credit reporting agency and a tenants credit will be negatively impacted."
Fishman says in an ideal world the legislation would force landlords and tenants to work out a payment plan, and renegotiate their lease. "Some landlords may say I will forgive you a portion of this rent and share the pain, and some landlords will say I will work out a payment plan with you," said Fishman.
To make sure that individual property owners aren't left holding the bag, Supervisor Preston is pushing for a plan that would take a portion of  mega real estate transactions, $10 million or more, to reimburse those landlords. San Francisco voters will have their say on that in November.

https://www.ktvu.com/news/san-francisco-supervisors-make-covid-19-eviction-moratorium-permanent