Alameda County looks to amend eviction moratorium
The soul searching continues in Alameda County and we hope lawmakers take a more tempered approach to the states of emergency by considering not only the uncertainty and anxiety of tenants but the uneasiness being felt by rental property owners who face a lapse of income.
On Tuesday, June 9, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors will revisit its eviction moratorium and vote on amendments that would give owners and operators peace of mind.
See our earlier post: A hard look at Alameda County’s new package of tenant protections
Among the major overhauls called for by our community, overdue rent should not be classified as consumer debt. In terms of transitioning tenants out of a unit, concerns for public health and safety should be grounds to evict, as well as instances when the owner desires to sell the property. While tenants thus far need little corroboration to prove a hardship, we join our industry partners in advocating for more formal documentation that substantiates a financial impact directly related to the crisis.
Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing?
Cities in Alameda County should not be permitted to cherry-pick what provisions of the ordinance it wants to keep and discard the ones it doesn’t like. In the interest of alleviating needless confusion, better for cities to opt-in or opt-out of the ordinance in its entirety.
IOUs far-flung in the future
In its current iteration, the eviction moratorium gives tenants 12 months to pay back rent missed during the emergency. This time frame is entirely too long and may very well lead to a reduction in the quality of life for residents as landlords are stripped of the income necessary to effectuate necessary repairs and improvements, if not forcing owners to go out of business.
Be part of the solution
In our overarching goal of informing the rental property industry, we do not work on an island. Our friends at the East Bay Rental Housing Association have made it easy to contact lawmakers in support of sorely needed changes that recognize the concerns of owners.