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Description
Counsel Jeremy Avila joins us to discuss the eviction moratorium in Santa Clara County, with information for landlords and tenants.
The County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors acted quickly back in March by approving an eviction moratorium to keep people from being forced to move from their homes and apartments after COVID-19 caused a record number of job losses, leaving many community members unemployed with no way to pay rent.
Recorded August 12, 2020.
The City of Cupertino would like to express its thanks to the County of Santa Clara for the use of their video materials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information regarding the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in Cupertino, please visit https://www.cupertino.org/coronavirus.
B
C
So
the
purpose
of
the
eviction
moratorium,
as
we
all
know
you
know
covet
19-
is
a
very
unprecedented
event
that
took,
I
think,
everyone
by
surprise
in
some
way
or
another.
The
purpose
of
the
eviction
moratorium
here
locally
is
to
meet
the
economic
needs
of
tenants
and
small
business
owners.
We
know
that
people
are
going
to
be
struggling.
C
We
know
that
they're
continuing
to
struggle,
and
so
the
goal
of
the
ordinance
is
to
prevent
homelessness,
displacement
and
loss
of
businesses
that
are
vital
to
the
fabric
of
our
community,
and
I
believe
you
asked
also
about
the
protections
correct.
So
there
are
a
couple
different
protections
that
are
built
into
the
ordinance.
The
primary
one
essentially
is
is
that
if
you
are
a
residential
tenant
or
a
small
business
commercial
tenant
who
has
suffered
a
substantial
loss
of
income
or
a
substantial
out-of-pocket
medical
expense
due
to
coven
19,
you
cannot
be
evicted
for
non-payment
of
rent.
C
That's
the
big
main
component
to
the
ordinance.
The
ordinance
similarly
protects
you
against
what
are
called
no
fault
evictions.
If,
again,
you
suffered
a
substantial
loss
of
income
or
substantial
out-of-pocket
medical
expense.
I
think
that's
the
the
core
component
of
what
the
eviction
moratorium
is
about,
so.
C
The
ordinance
does
require
tenants
to
provide
documentation
to
their
landlords
in
order
to
help
prove
that
they
are
what
we
call
an
affected
or
qualified
tenant.
That
documentation
can
be
anything
from
pay.
Stubs
bank
statements
there's
a
there's,
a
illustrative
list
in
the
ordinance,
but
by
no
means
is
it
exhaustive
anything
that's
going
to
help
demonstrate
that
you've
suffered
that
loss
of
income
or
that
you
have
suffered
or
incurred
that
out-of-pocket
medical
expense.
C
So
the
current
eviction
moratorium
ordinance
is
in
effect
until
august
31st
of
this
year.
The
board
of
supervisors
is
going
to
take
up
at
its
august
25th
meeting,
whether
to
extend
or
amend
the
ordinance
whenever
the
moratorium
period
ends
the
ordinance,
and
this
is
due
to
a
amendment
from
june
when
the
moratorium
ends
an
affected
tenant
will
have
12
months
to
repay
their
rent.
C
C
Good
question:
so,
if
you
go
to
the
county's
office
of
supportive
housing
website,
we
have
a
covid19
page
that
addresses
the
eviction,
moratorium
and
housing-related
needs
and
questions
on
that
webpage.
There
are
frequently
asked
questions
faqs
and
in
those
faqs
are
some
guidelines
that
can
help
folks
determine
and
identify
if
they
qualify
as
a
small
business.
B
C
So
right
now
the
as
we've
been
seeing
since
march,
the
governor
has
issued
a
series
of
executive
orders
and
what
those
executive
orders
do
in
the
eviction
moratorium
space
is.
It
gives
counties
and
cities
the
power
and
the
ability
to
pass
their
own
regulations,
their
own
ordinances
to
help
meet
the
crisis
and
meet
the
needs
of
the
moment
where
we
also
see
a
lot
of
parallel.
C
Action
is
between
the
county
and
the
cities,
and
so,
if
you
look
at
the
county's
eviction
moratorium
ordinance,
what
it
says
is
that
if
there
is
a
more
protective
component,
whether
it
be
the
county's
ordinance
or
a
city's
ordinance,
that
more
protective
component
will
apply
to
the
residential
or
commercial
tenant.
So
I
know.
B
Some
people
have
sent
us
information
about
being
harassed
by
their
landlord
saying.
When
are
you
going
to
pay?
Can
you
pay
now?
I
will
say
when,
when
this
first
happened,
my
landlords
actually
checked
in
with
me
a
friendly
check
to
say:
are
you
going
to
be
able
to
pay
this
month?
So
what
can
people
do
if
they
feel
they're
being
harassed
by
their
landlords,
because.
D
C
Certainly
so
you
know,
the
first
point,
I
think
to
say
is
certainly
we
would
hope
that
no
landlord
is
harassing
their
attendance
and
that
no
tenant
is
feeling
harassed
or
taken
advantage
of
that
you
know,
I
think
I
would
almost
say
it
goes
without
saying,
but
it
always
helps
to
mention
it
referencing
the
office
of
supportive
housing's
website.
Again
we
have
those
frequently
asked
questions
that
are
up
there
and
those
are
resources
not
just
for
tennis,
but
for
landlords
as
well.
C
With
respect
to
the
specific
question
of
what
to
do
in
the
event
of
harassment,
you
know
if
a
if
a
tenant
does
feel
that
they
are
being
harassed.
A
tenant
should
not
only
look
at
the
faqs
on
the
office
of
supportive
housing's
website,
but
attendants
should
also
consider
speaking
to
a
legal
counsel,
whether
it's
an
attorney
or
a
legal
aid
clinic
to
help
get
some
assistance
or
direction
on
what
to
do
from
there.
C
The
other
thing
that
I
would
point
out
is
that
sections
3
c
8
and
3
c
9
of
the
ordinance
do
say
that
a
landlord
has
to
inform
a
tenant
of
their
rights
with
respect
to
repayment
and
with
respect
to
other
protections
under
the
ordinance
and
if
the
tenant.
Sorry,
if
the
landlord
fails
to
do
that
or
if
the
landlord
violates
any
other
protection
or
provision
of
the
ordinance,
then
the
landlord
can
face
civil
action
as
well.
C
B
C
Certainly
so,
what's
next
is
august
25th
the
board
of
supervisors
will
be
revisiting.
The
issue
of
the
eviction
moratorium
ordinance
up
for
discussion
will
be
whether
to
extend
the
ordinance
and
whether
to
amend
it
in
any
way.
That
makes
sense-
and
there
was
some
discussion
of
this
at
the
board
of
supervisors
meeting
yesterday-
asking
for
ideas
or
direction
on
what
can
be
done
to
supplement
the
ordinance.
C
So
the
first
thing
that
I
would
recommend
is
people
watch
this
upcoming
meeting
on
august
25th
to
see
what
the
board
of
supervisors
decides
and
what
the
discussion
is
around
there.
Other
than
that
again,
there
is
the
office
of
supportive
housing's
web
page
for
the
eviction
moratorium
that
does
get
updated
regularly,
and
so
I
would
encourage
people
if
they
don't
have
the
time
to
tune
in
to
the
board
of
supervisors
meeting.
C
We
all
have
things
to
do.
I
understand
so
at
the
very
least,
check
out
that
faq's
page
check
out
the
supportive
office
of
supportive
housing's
website
and
see
what
some
of
this
news
is
about.
The
eviction
moratorium
because
I
I
do
suspect
that
there
will
be
some
new
updates
to
provide
to
the
public
come
august.
25Th.
B
So
I
know
some
of
our
landlords
here
in
the
county.
You
also
have
a
mortgage
to
pay
and
jeremy
said
that
the
eviction
moratorium
does
not
cover
mortgages,
but
what
you?
What
you
can
do,
is
contact
your
mortgage
company
and
see
if
you
can
work
out
something
with
them
a
lot
of
times.
Those
payments
can
be
placed
on
the
back
end
or
they
will
do
an
entire
loan
modification
for
you
so
check
with
your
mortgage
company.
So
what
does
this
moratorium?
B
C
You
can
be
evicted,
yes,
that's
correct,
so
things
that
are
not
covered,
as
we
mentioned
already
mortgages
and
homeowners.
Those
are
not
covered
by
the
moratorium
ordinance.
What
we
call
at
fault
evictions
are
not
covered,
and
essentially
that
would
be
you
know
an
example
would
be
a
tenant
who
is
violating
the
lease
in
some
ways
so,
for
example,
a
tenant
who's
busting
holes
into
the
walls
or
causing
damage
to
the
property.
C
That
would
be
an
example
of
an
at
fault
eviction
and
that
would
be
permitted
under
the
ordinance.
The
you
know,
the
triggering
conditions
that
the
ordinance
requires
are
again,
that
substantial
loss
of
income
or
that
substantial
out-of-pocket
medical
expense,
and
once
you
have
one
of
those,
then
that
starts
to
put
you
on
the
track
of
what
the
ordinance
may
or
may
not
cover
all.