City Council to Vote on Lifting Evictions Moratorium

The City Council will consider on Monday crafting an ordinance that sunsets the city’s commercial and residential eviction moratorium which has been in place since March 17, 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

When commercial and residential tenant protections in the City are lifted, landlords may begin court filings for eviction for non-payment of rent.

The moratorium prohibits landlords from evicting residential tenants for  non-payment of rent if the tenant is unable to pay rent due to the financial impacts of COVID-19, or for a no-fault eviction, unless necessary for health and safety reasons.

The moratorium also prohibits landlords from evicting business tenants for non-payment of rent if the tenant is unable to pay rent due to the financial impacts of COVID-19.

Tenants are required to repay any back rent within six months of the expiration of the emergency period.

During the moratorium, a landlord may not impose or seek to recover late fees, pass-throughs, or interest for rent that is delayed or unpaid due to the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The moratorium also encourages partial payment of rent if tenants cannot pay the full rent, and prohibits landlords from harassing or intimidating tenants who exercise their protections under the moratorium.

In recommending the lifting of the moratorium, city staff said most of the moratorium provided by federal, state and local governments at the onset of the pandemic have already expired to date.

A total of 52 city and county jurisdictions in California have enacted an emergency eviction moratoria in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from Nolo website.

As of today, out of the total number, 10 jurisdictions have already lifted the moratorium on residential tenants while 18 jurisdictions have already lifted the moratorium issued with respect to commercial tenants.

Most local jurisdictions that currently have COVID tenant protections in effect have set the expiration of their eviction moratoria to coincide with the anticipated lifting of their local emergency, as per city staff report.

According to city staff, the Office of the City Manager contacted several commercial real estate brokers in Pasadena and their overall observation is that the lifting of the city’s eviction moratorium will have a minimal impact.

“The brokers contacted felt that property owners and tenants have worked out their issues over the last two years and that there is not expected to be a significant impact should the eviction moratorium be lifted,” the report stated.

The ordinance that sunsets the COVID-19 eviction moratorium on commercial properties is anticipated to be adopted in May while the moratorium on residential properties is anticipated to be adopted in June.