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Oakland could wind down eviction moratorium starting next month
Legislation could end three-year ban on Sept. 1, while amending just-cause ordinance
Oakland’s three-year eviction moratorium could wind down next month for some tenants, while other non-paying renters could face the boot this fall.
Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and Councilman Dan Kalb have proposed a bill to allow landlords to pursue evictions beginning May 2 for nonpayment of rent for the month of May, the San Francisco Business Times reported.
Under the proposed ordinance, landlords could serve a three-day notice — a request for tenants to either pay rent within three days or move out — if tenants couldn’t prove the nonpayment was related to the pandemic.
Landlords who want to evict for nonpayment of rent from March 2020 through this month could begin eviction proceedings on Sept. 1, when the moratorium would finally end.
The legislation comes after an outcry by Oakland landlords about a pandemic-era policy barring them from booting non-paying tenants, which caused economic hardship for property owners.
Bas and Kalb’s proposal, which will go before Oakland’s Community & Economic Development Committee April 11, would also amend Oakland’s Just Cause Ordinance, which has regulated evictions in Oakland since the early 2000s, according to the Business Times.
The proposed amendments would modify the existing ordinance, which gives a dozen reasons why a tenant in Oakland can legally be evicted.
They would prohibit evictions if the amount owed is less than one month’s fair market rent as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
They would grant tenants facing eviction for nonpayment of rent for months prior to Sept. 1 a defense, so long as that nonpayment was a direct result of the pandemic.
And they would require landlords seeking to evict a tenant for breach of lease to prove that the breach caused “substantial damage,” among other protections.
Housing Providers of America, the landlord group that has sued Oakland over its eviction moratorium, has no plans to drop its suit against the city despite the new proposal, said John Protopappas, whose Madison Park Financial firm is leading the group.
If Oakland’s Community & Economic Development Committee approves the proposed ordinance, it could be heard by the City Council at its April 18 meeting. If approved, it would require a second vote on May 2 before it becomes law.
— Dana Bartholomew