By Anerio Altman
If you fall behind on your residential rent, and you cannot make the rent because of the issues created by Covid-19, you can ask for a 60 day extension on paying your rent SO LONG AS you ask for that extension within 7 days of the due date.
If the Landlord then seeks to evict you, you can respond in court requesting an extension to respond and receive at least 60 days to file your response to the complaint.
THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU GET TO SKIP PAYING RENT! It just provides you time to catch up with the rent owed.
This protection has been issued per the Governor of California. The text of the Executive Order follows:
EXECUTIVE ORDER N-37-20
WHEREAS on March 4, 2020, I proclaimed a State of Emergency to exist in California as a result of the threat of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS in a short period of time, COVID-19 has rapidly spread
throughout California, necessitating stringent public health emergency orders as well as guidance from federal, state, and local public health officials; and
WHEREAS on March 16, 2020, I issued Executive Order N-28-20, suspending state law limitations on local jurisdictions that impose restrictions on evictions; and
WHEREAS on March 19, 2020, I issued Executive Order N-33-20, ordering all residents to immediately heed the Order of the State Public Health Officer for all residents, unless exempted, to stay home or at their place of residence; and
WHEREAS many Californians are experiencing or will experience
substantial losses of income as a result of business closures, the loss of hours or wages, or layoffs related to COVID-19, hindering their ability to keep up with their rent, and leaving them vulnerable to eviction; and
WHEREAS minimizing evictions during this period is critical to reducing the spread of COVID-19 in vulnerable populations by allowing all residents to stay home or at their place of residence in compliance with Executive Order N-33-20; and
WHEREAS Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye issued advisory guidance on March 20, 2020 for superior courts to suspend most civil trials and hearings for at least 60 days, and on March 23, 2020, suspended all jury trials for a period of 60 days, and extended by 60 days the time period for the holding of a civil trial; and
WHEREAS on March 25, 2020 the Department of Business Oversight secured support from national banks, state banks and credit unions for temporary delays in mortgage payments and foreclosure sales and evictions for homeowners who have economic impacts from COVID-19 with the objective of maximizing consistency and minimizing hurdles potentially faced by borrowers.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the State Constitution and statutes of the State of California, and in particular, Government Code sections 8567 and 8571, do hereby issue the following Order to become effective immediately:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1) The deadline specified in Code of Civil Procedure section 1167 shall be extended for a period of 60 days for any tenant who is served, while this Order is in effect, with a complaint that seeks to evict the tenant from a residence or dwelling unit for nonpayment of rent and who satisfies all of the following requirements:
a. Prior to the date of this Order, the tenant paid rent due to the
landlord pursuant to an agreement.
b. The tenant notifies the landlord in writing before the rent is due,
or within a reasonable period of time afterwards not to exceed 7
days, that the tenant needs to delay all or some payment of rent
because of an inability to pay the full amount due to reasons
related to COVID-19, including but not limited to the following:
(i) The tenant was unavailable to work because the tenant
was sick with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19
or caring for a household or family member who was sick
with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19;
(ii) The tenant experienced a lay-off, loss of hours, or other
income reduction resulting from COVID-19, the state of
emergency, or related government response; or
(iii) The tenant needed to miss work to care for a child whose
school was closed in response to COVID-19.
c. The tenant retains verifiable documentation, such as termination
notices, payroll checks, pay stubs, bank statements, medical
bills, or signed letters or statements from an employer or
supervisor explaining the tenant’s changed financial
circumstances, to support the tenant’s assertion of an inability to
pay. This documentation may be provided to the landlord no
later than the time upon payment of back-due rent.
2) No writ may be enforced while this Order is in effect to evict a tenant from a residence or dwelling unit for nonpayment of rent who satisfies the requirements of subparagraphs (a)-(c) of paragraph 1.
3) The protections in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be in effect through May 31, 2020.
Nothing in this Order shall prevent a tenant who is able to pay all or some of the rent due from paying that rent in a timely manner or relieve a tenant of liability for unpaid rent.
Nothing in this Order shall in any way restrict state or local governmental authority to order any quarantine, isolation, or other public health measure that may compel an individual to remain physically present in a particular residential property.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Order supersedes Executive Order N-28-20 to the extent that there is any conflict with that Order.
This Order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the State of California, its agencies, departments, entities, officers, employees, or any other person.
I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this proclamation be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this Order.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set
my hand and caused the Great Seal of the
State of California to be affixed this 27th
day of March 2020.
GAVIN NEWSOM
Governor of California