Supervisor Preston COVID19 Update 06292020 Newsletter

From Supervisor Dean Preston
 
 
District 5 Newsletter
 

 


Friends and Neighbors, 

I am writing today with an update on our COVID-19 eviction ordinance, as well as a link to our Wednesday Virtual Office Hours!
 

➩ COVID Eviction Protections Signed

 

After passing with a 10-1 margin, our ordinance to permanently stop evictions for tenants who can’t make rent because they lost income due to COVID was signed by the Mayor this past Friday. That same day, the Mayor extended the temporary eviction order to cover July rent payments.

It all adds up to this: If you can’t pay rent for any month between April and July, you cannot be evicted for nonpayment of rent for that time period. Not now, not ever. You still owe the money, but you will need not fear being kicked out of your home as you make up that back rent.

Credit where credit is due: Our Mayor and other elected leaders recognized early on that we needed to take bold steps, both in the near and long term, to make sure we don’t let a health crisis become a housing crisis. I appreciate her office working with me and my staff to implement the protections we have in place.

For tenants in other cities and states, the situation is dire, as Last Week Tonight with John Oliver covered on its most recent episode on Sunday.
 

 

While we have taken important steps locally, we know there is so much more work to be done to stop displacement after this crisis. We will continue fighting at all levels of government to make sure people can stay in their homes.
 

➩ Landlord Legal Challenge

 

No sooner did we post on how proud we are of our city for banning nonpayment of rent evictions for loss of income during COVID, and we find out that group of landlord associations filed suit today against our near unanimous legislation.

In a moment when people need to come together, it is despicable that landlord associations would go to court to allow mass evictions removing people from their homes.

To be clear, under our legislation, a tenant is still obligated to pay their rent debt. All we are doing is taking eviction off the table. So let’s call this lawsuit what it is--landlords are going to court to allow mass evictions as soon as the temporary protections expire. They should be ashamed of themselves.
 

     


    I spent two decades defending tenants against displacement, and I know how devastating evictions can be. Not only do they result in the forcible removal of people from their homes and communities, but they make it exponentially more difficult for renters to find stable housing in the future. In San Francisco, eviction too often means homelessness or displacement from the city. And we know who disproportionately falls victim to evictions: low-income people of color.   

    Add to this a global pandemic, where many have lost income through no fault of their own, because they were complying with government issued orders to stay home and practice safe social distancing. It is unconscionable for landlord groups to fight for eviction of vulnerable people in a pandemic, rather than simply working out payment plans that do not involve mass displacement.

    Make no mistake: We will fight to keep these protections in place. It is a path we have been down before, in which we achieved victory. In 2016, working with then Supervisor David Campos and Hillary Ronen, we passed a groundbreaking law -- the only one of its type in the nation -- that prevented the eviction of teachers during the academic year. Some of the same people and organizations now challenging our COVID eviction protections took these teacher protections to court. And eventually, in appellate court, the law was upheld. 

    San Francisco has the right to protect tenants from unfair eviction. Decades of court precedent all the way up to the California Supreme Court establish this local power, a power that has only been expanded by state directives during the pandemic. We exercised our right to protect tenants from unfair eviction with this carefully crafted ordinance. The law is on solid legal ground and is absolutely necessary to prevent an avalanche of evictions. The Board of Supervisors did not fold in response to the bullying and threats from landlord lobbyists when we were considering this law, and we certainly will stand firm in response to their misguided lawsuit.

      âž© D5 Virtual Office Hours!

       

      Please join us this Wednesday, July 1st at 1pm for Virtual Office Hours. Get the latest updates from our office, share your ideas, and get your questions answered. 

      Click here to register!
         
        Dean Preston, District 5 Supervisor
        415-554-7630
        prestonstaff@sfgov.org
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