–Part 1–
On September 1, 2020, Governor Newsom signed into law AB 3088, which contains the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020. This new law greatly changes your ability to collect rent through an unlawful detainer (eviction). Our office will send you follow up emails providing you with more guidance in the next couple of days.
I heard that the eviction moratorium created by the Judicial Council was lifted. My tenant is not paying rent and I want to move forward immediately. What do I need to do?
Wait to serve a notice to pay rent or quit until you have reviewed the Tenant Relief Act of 2020 or spoken to an attorney. The Court cannot issue Summons, Defaults, and/or Default Judgments on residential unlawful detainers that are based on nonpayment of rent or other monetary charges until after October 4, 2020. This gives you time to make sure the next steps you take are correct.
First, you must serve your tenants who have not paid rent between March 31, 2020 to August 31, 2020 with a notice that the California Legislature has enacted the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020 (we will refer to this notice as the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Disclosure. This notice must be served to your tenant on or before September 30, 2020. If you fail to give this notice to your tenant you cannot serve a notice to pay rent or quit and prevail with an unlawful detainer for nonpayment of rent.
You can download a copy of the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Disclosure by clicking HERE.
Our office will send another email detailing the various requirements for a notice to pay rent or quit for rent from March 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021. We ask that you remain patient with our office so we can give you the correct information in a way that is easy for you to apply and understand. Additionally, we anticipate that the federal government will enact an eviction moratorium for nonpayment of rent cases through December 31, 2020.
Please understand that during this time our phone lines will be extremely impacted and we ask that you send any questions that you have via email.
These new laws do not apply to commercial or post foreclosure* unlawful detainers.
*Consult with an attorney prior to moving forward with a post foreclosure eviction.