SF Supervisor Preston Proposes 10-Day Warning Interval For Renters Dealing with Eviction – CBS San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF / BCN) – To give residents facing eviction another chance, San Francisco supervisor Dean Preston expects to enact law during Tuesday’s board meeting that requires landlords to give tenants a 10 day notice before filing an eviction notice.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, landlords wishing to move out a tenant could typically file a three-day eviction lawsuit before the eviction process began.
CONTINUE READING: Amazon Web Services Reports Fatal Outage; Netflix, Venmo, Instacart among many websites affected
However, since the pandemic, California law introduced a new 15-day obligation for landlords to notify renters of eviction for non-payment of rent. The new state law aims to give tenants more time to access funds through rent relief programs.
Preston said his bill would ensure that similar protections remain in place for tenants exposed to an eviction after the pandemic-induced protections expire.
“This bill would create a warning period,” Preston said in a phone interview on Monday. “What we are doing with this legislation is that the protection is permanent, not just during the pandemic. We should give people options instead of driving them away. “
According to Preston, a former tenant lawyer, evictions can make it difficult for renters to find housing in the future and can even affect people’s physical and mental health, putting them at higher risk of displacement or homelessness.
“The broader context here is that California is pretty tough on this rent non-payment issue,” Preston said. “On the fourth day – that’s it. Even if the tenant can raise the money, he can still be evicted from his apartment. “
CONTINUE READING: “Prolific” retail theft suspect in San Francisco back in jail after being arrested
The Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco Executive Director Fred Sherburn-Zimmer said, “Renters have more time to fix problems, which means tenants can stay in their homes.”
“People should have time to resolve disputes before landlords request an eviction,” said Ora Prochovnick, Eviction Defense’s collaborative eviction director of litigation and policy. “This law is a game changer. It will help save thousands of San Franciscans who would otherwise lose their homes. “
If the law were ultimately approved by the city’s board of directors and then enacted by Mayor London Breed, the law would make San Francisco the first city in the state to introduce such an eviction notice.
Back in October, shortly after California’s eviction moratorium imposed during the pandemic expired and hundreds of thousands of renters across the state who were unable to pay their rent were vulnerable to the loss of their homes. In response, Preston declared his district a “no evacuation zone” and encouraged tenants to apply for government rent reduction funds, to seek legal representation and to find out about local evictions, among other things.
Preston’s borough includes neighborhoods such as Hayes Valley, Fillmore, Japantown, Lower Pacific Heights, Western Addition, Cole Valley, and Inner Sunset.
MORE NEWS: Monterey County employee dies driving heavy equipment to site
© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
