City passes eviction moratorium for businesses hurt by coronavirus pandemic

Meeting digitally because of the state and county stay-at-home orders, the Sacramento City Council passed an emergency measure halting evictions for commercial tenants hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.

The 8-1 vote follows council approval last week of a similar eviction moratorium for residential tenants.

In both cases, tenants will have to tell their landlords before the rent is due that they won’t be able to pay as a result of lost income due to COVID-19.

Tenants will not be charged late fees, and will have 120 days to pay back rent after Gov. Gavin Newsom lifts his stay-at-home order, which has caused restaurants, bars and other businesses to be shuttered across the state.

“While we wait for the federal and state governments to take action, this is a short-term way without having to spend more city money to buy time for these small businesses to see if they can survive their shutdowns,” said Councilmember Steve Hansen.

He noted that the need for economic relief among small businesses, many of them downtown, is great. When the city opened a $1 million, zero interest loan fund, 1,800 people completed applications within 48 hours.

Landlords have raised concerns that a moratorium on evictions will cause them to lose their properties to foreclosure. Mayor Darrell Steinberg said he is working with local banks to prevent this scenario. The city also supports federal and state measures to provide relief to landlords as well.

Mayor Steinberg said the moratorium could be lifted anytime the pandemic emergency ends. “There is no reason we can’t review this in 30 days if the crisis has stabilized,” he said.  

The measure passed with an amendment, offered by Councilmember Jeff Harris, that the Council review the moratorium in 30 days to decide if it should remain in place.