Supervisors Recommend Permanent Prohibition of COVID-19 Evictions

The Board of Supervisors Committee on Land Use and Transportation unanimously recommended Monday that the administrative code be amended to permanently prohibit landlords from evicting tenants due to non-payment of rent as a result of the pandemic.

Ordinance 200375, sponsored by Supervisor Dean Preston, would prohibit late fees, penalties, interest or other charges related to economic duress caused by COVID-19. The proposed ordinance is intended to supplement Mayor London Breed’s eviction moratorium by clarifying that non-payment cannot be used as grounds for eviction, Preston said.

“Without legislative change, there can be little doubt that when the eviction moratorium expires there will be thousands of filings to give tenants notice that they have three days to pay or quit,” Preston said.

During the five hours of public comment, many property owners called in to disagree.

“No owner that I've ever worked with wants to evict a resident and no resident ever wants to be evicted for non-payment of rent, especially during a global pandemic that was not caused by the owner or by the resident,” said Michelle Horneff-Cohen, owner of Property Management Systems.

Instead of threatening to remove non-paying tenants, Horneff-Cohen said landlords cooperated to find an equitable solution.

“In every situation a compromise was made between the parties where waiver of a portion or all of the rent was made,” Horneff-Cohen said. Joe Ansel, a local property owner, called the ordinance “one-sided” and “pretentious.”

“Many landlords are in a position similar to tenants. They face bills they must pay, but nobody is going to pass legislation to eliminate taxes, mortgages, utilities and maintenance,” Ansel said.

Supervisor Ahsha Safai said concerns over tenants “living for free” or “choosing not to pay rent” were misinformed.

“Someone's not just going to be able to walk in and say, ‘I don't feel like paying rent,’” Safai said. “But let's be really clear, if they did that, they're jeopardizing their credit, and they're jeopardizing being taken to court for breach of contract.”

The ordinance does not waive the tenant’s obligation to pay rent owed, instead, it takes eviction “out of the equation and off the table,” Preston said. “It doesn't mean that landlords won't receive rent,” said Anastasia Yovanopoulos, in support of the ordinance. “Tenants will owe that money. It will become a consumer debt.”

Preston said that the adoption of this ordinance would make San Francisco “among the most forward-thinking cities” in terms of protecting vulnerable or low-income tenants.

“As has become abundantly clear, the worst health effects of COVID-19 have disproportionately fallen on low-income and communities of color,” Preston said. “There can be no doubt that if the law remains as is, the San Franciscans who'll soon be kicked out of their homes will be from those very communities.”

Ken Tray, spokesperson for the United Educators of San Francisco, said threat of homelessness is particularly damaging to students.

“While we're marching in the streets to find justice for George Floyd and to make sure that black lives matter, the least we could do is to provide housing security to our most vulnerable students,” Tray said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom extended the state’s eviction moratorium until the end of July. Courts have also said they will not process any evictions until 90 days after the emergency order expires.

“There's going to be an extended period of time where no evictions will be happening, with or without this legislation,” Safai said. “The governor and the mayor of our city have been very clear about the necessity, the requirement and the desire not to evict anyone during this pandemic.”

Preston said an “overwhelming majority” of tenants, close to 97%, are paying rent.

“The reality is, even with an eviction moratorium, most tenants are continuing to pay their rent and are working with their landlords,” Preston said.

The amended ordinance will be introduced in a first reading at the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.