Marin County Supervisors To Consider New Eviction Moratorium

From the County of Marin:

MARIN COUNTY, CA — After implementing strong eviction protections for residents during the during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Marin County Board of Supervisors will consider adopting a resolution that continues to bar evictions through June for people economically impacted by the coronavirus.

The board will discuss the resolution, drafted by the Marin County Community Development Agency (CDA), during its online session at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12. Planners worked with the board's Housing Subcommittee to create language that reinstates a local moratorium first enacted March 24, 2020, when households began to suffer negative financial impacts directly tied to the pandemic. The moratorium was extended four times.

If the new resolution is approved, landlords will be prohibited from evicting a tenant through June 30 if the tenant has an economic hardship that is directly tied to COVID-19.

The local resolution expired on Sept. 30, and the county deferred to the State of California's Assembly Bill 3088, which provides relief through Jan. 31 for tenants who submit a declaration form and pay 25% of rent owed between September 2020 and January 2021. Under AB 3088, rent that came due between March and August 2020, still due to landlords, was converted to consumer debt and could not be used as the basis for evictions.

By the end of 2020, the Emergency Rental Assistance Program established by the county and the Marin Community Foundation had granted nearly 1,700 tenants with rent assistance payment paid directly to local landlords totaling $3 million. The program was a safety-net fund to assist the most financially vulnerable residents and prevent homelessness. Marin's severe shortage of affordable rental housing – even under non-pandemic circumstances – leaves many lower-paid workers at high risk for homelessness, and in turn, less equipped to mitigate the risks associated with the virus.

CDA Planning Manager Leelee Thomas said there are approximately 1,500 open inquiries for rental assistance in Marin, with about 1,000 new calls added since re-launching the program on Dec. 17.

"The public health emergency remains fluid, and the State Legislature is considering two bills that would provide more renter protections," Thomas said. "We will continue to monitor the situation and may come back to the board with recommended amendments based on new circumstances affecting the stability of renters in Marin."

Through the COVID-19 Fund of MCF, contributions can be earmarked for emergency rental assistance and will be leveraged for food distribution and specialized services for older adults and people with disabilities.

More documents and information for renters and landlords related to the eviction moratorium can be found on the county's Renter and Landlord Resources webpage.

The county welcomes and encourages public feedback and participation in its meetings. Written comments on an agenda item may be submitted to the Clerk of the Board for distribution to the Board of Supervisors prior to a meeting. All board meetings are streamed live on the county website and are available for archived viewing on the same webpage the next day. For Comcast TV subscribers, the meetings are shown live and in reruns on Channel 27 through partnerships with the Community Media Center of Marin and Novato Community Television.

— News release submitted for publication by County of Marin