By MANUEL ORTIZ ESCÁMEZ / Ethnic Media Services
REDWOOD CITY, CA - Isabel Perez and her husband lost the two jobs they each had in San Francisco restaurants because of the Covid-19 pandemic. They owe three months' rent and, if the moratorium on evictions that ends Aug. 30 in San Francisco County is lifted, they'll be out of work. Saint Matthew does not extend, they will be left on the street along with their ten-year-old son.
About 6,900 people in the wealthy settlement of San Francisco Peninsula are in danger of losing their homes at the end of this month. On August 21, approximately 100 people, including tenants and activists, rallied in the courtyard of the San Mateo County Center in Redwood City to call on San Mateo County supervisors to stop the housing crisis. San Mateo County an extension of the moratorium on evictions.
Nazanin Salehi, attorney for the Community Legal Services Housing Program in East Palo Alto said people of color disproportionately face eviction in San Mateo County. More than 4,100 households with children are suffering from eviction, he said, adding that children will also lose their schools once evicted because San Mateo County schools are primarily engaged in distance learning during the pandemic.
The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the county is $2,700. "People are looking at $10,000 to $20,000 in rent debt," he said.
Salehi and local housing justice activists are advocating for a model in which San Mateo County pays up to 75 percent of the tenant's debt directly to the landlord to avoid eviction. On August 4, at their last official meeting, San Mateo County supervisors denied an extension of the current moratorium on evictions that began March 25 and ends August 30 of this year.
"Our supervisors have decided it's more important for landlords to continue to make money and evict workers from their homes than for families to stay in safe homes," said Jason Tarricone, housing program director for East Palo Alto Community Legal Services, one of the organizers of the protest.
Across the state of California, approximately 4 million people could be at risk of losing their homes on September 2, when a state moratorium, issued by the California Judicial Council on April 6. The Judicial Council declared earlier this month that it will not extend the moratorium, and expects the state Legislature to take action.
But the window for action is short: The Legislature adjourns on Aug. 31.
The law AB 1436The bill, which has made its way through the state Assembly, would provide an eviction subsidy to tenants in the state. Under the provisions of the bill, landlords can use various methods to extract rent owed to their tenants, but cannot evict them.
AB 1436 encourages landlords and tenants to work out a system for late rent, without late fees. It also mandates the elimination of negative consequences, such as the eviction notice appearing on the tenant's credit report.
Nisha Vyas, senior attorney at the Western Center on Law and Povertysaid it is crucial that the state Legislature pass the bill before the session ends Aug. 31. "The housing crisis in California was ongoing long before the pandemic."
"We are facing momentous social change. We have to stop this now," he said.
Jennifer Kwart, communications director for Assemblyman David Chiu, the main sponsor of AB 1436, said the bill is stuck in the Senate Rules Committeea space where tenant supporters and landlords put forward their views for a better version of the project.
"Landlords are vehemently opposed to the bill. Tenants would like to see it go further," Kwart said, expressing optimism that a version of the bill will pass before the Legislature adjourns.
It's pretty clear that something needs to be done. We told people to stay home, and businesses to close. Millions of people lost their jobs and can't pay their rent through no fault of their own."
"The consequence of evicting so many people will have a profound impact," Kwart said, citing an alarming increase in homelessness, the increased spread of COVID, and an overall decline in California's economy.
"This could be catastrophic for our state," he added.
"What we are experiencing is serious, very unfair and disturbing," said Adriana Guzman, a San Mateo County activist, in an interview with EMS.
According to Guzman, the supervisors' refusal to extend the moratorium is causing some landlords to pressure tenants. "Yesterday I received a call from an elderly woman who was desperate because her landlord is harassing her so much that he told her to pay him now or leave, but the landlord is acting inappropriately because the moratorium is still in effect."
Guzman says that while she was on the phone with the woman who had been harassed by her landlord, she felt sick from the high level of stress she was feeling, and her husband had to take her to the emergency doctor.
"Many people like this family are going through unnecessary stress. Those most affected by the upcoming eviction crisis are the elderly and children, as they are the most vulnerable. That's why we ask the supervisors to consider that supporting families is in the best interest of the entire county."
"The supervisors have the power to stop these evictions and save people's homes," said Gabriel Manrique, a member of El Comité y Luna. "They should extend the moratorium until the end of the state of emergency, pass a policy to make tenant debt during the COVID -19 pandemic not cause for eviction, and allocate more funds to tenant rental assistance and mortgage subsidy for small landlords."
With additional report from Sunita Sohrabji/EMS Contributing Editor
