San Diego Eviction Laws

“There`s a tsunami of evictions and because of these moratoriums and other laws, they`re just removing it,” Marshall said. You have rights and are protected by federal, state, and local laws. To understand these laws, please attend one of our workshops here. Tenants who have questions about their legal rights or pending eviction actions can call: SCRHA will host a webinar in the near future to examine the end of California`s recent moratorium, remaining moratoriums, and the status of evictions in the court system. What does this mean for tenants? Pending applications for rent assistance no longer protect against an eviction action for unpaid rent due to Covid-19 difficulties. If you receive a notice of unpaid rent, get legal help. To find legal aid clinics, visit housinghelpsd.org or call Legal Aid San Diego at 1-877-534-2524. “No-fault evictions are now legal and there is nothing we as lawyers can do to prevent them if the landlord has kept proper notice.” Note: Laws and protections change quickly and this page will be updated as often as possible. Please click on the links below for the most up-to-date information.

“These are tenants who have done nothing wrong,” Vera said. “They are up to date with their rent and stick to the lease.” Vera added that he feared evictions would increase after the ban ended, both for new leases and eviction cases that were suspended in court over the summer. The eviction ban expired after the county declared homelessness a public health crisis. A moratorium on “no-fault” evictions in the city of San Diego has expired, though important protections for COVID-related non-payment remain in place. The San Diego City law, if approved, would continue to allow “error-free” evictions under the following circumstances: The moratorium on no-fault evictions went into effect in May due to strong objections from the California Apartment Association. However, the association helped secure a September 30 end date, which the city did not extend. The San Diego City Council has passed a temporary ban on forced evictions proposed by Council President Sean Elo-Rivera. It went into effect on May 22, 2022, 30 days after San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria signed the order.

Under this local law, evictions would not be allowed in the city of San Diego until September 30, 2022 or 60 days after the end of the local state of emergency declared by the mayor due to the COVID-19 pandemic, whichever comes first. A moratorium on evictions passed a year and a half ago in the city of San Diego is now in effect with the end of statewide eviction protection. The order was passed in February 2021, but was anticipated by state law. The city`s order that applies to non-payment of rent is now in effect, although the city or its agencies are not identifiable to remind the municipality and housing providers. The San Diego City Council has passed a temporary ban on guilt-free evictions, proposed by City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera. It came into force on May 22, 2022 and ended on September 30, 2022. Local law prohibited “no-fault” evictions in the city, meaning a landlord could not evict a tenant for a reason that did not involve non-payment of rent or breach of a lease. Unlike state law, San Diego does not require landlords to pay a month`s rent or forgo the last month if a tenant receives a no-fault eviction notice from them. For this reason, many council members said the city needed to update its laws.

Gilberto Vera, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, said resuming evictions would result in the loss of their home, even if they follow the rules and pay rent. “They couldn`t use their property even though they owned it, they paid taxes, they made the investment,” said Roseanna Miani, an eviction attorney who represents clients throughout San Diego County. During the lockdown, the moratorium on no-fault evictions extended notice periods and prohibited no-fault evictions for all residential tenants, regardless of their COVID-19 hardship status, with limited exceptions for moving in from the landlord, removing an entire rental property from the market, and complying with a government or court order. Some of the proposals stemmed from issues that arose when the city sought to prevent evictions during COVID-19. During the pandemic, a landlord was allowed to evict a tenant if they planned to move a family member into the property. Some tenants argued that a family member had never moved in. The draft ordinance states that if a family member does not occupy the property within 90 days, the evicted tenant should have the right of first refusal to return. The city has a tenant right to know ordinance designed to “protect the rights of long-term residential tenants by limiting the reasons for their eviction and requiring landlords to disclose those reasons.” A “culpable” eviction occurs when a landlord terminates a lease with the tenant for reasons that do not include the tenant`s alleged non-payment of rent, illegal behaviour, or a breach of the lease. Even if evictions can be resumed without reason, not all lease terminations are legal. For example, landlords cannot evict anyone in retaliation when a tenant asks for repairs.

Council members said after nearly four hours of public comment that they were open to working with landlords as they consider new laws to strengthen tenant protection. The State of California (State) and the City of San Diego (City) have passed laws to provide protection from evictions in certain circumstances to assist tenants during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. San Diego`s moratorium on no-fault evictions expired Friday, expanding the list of reasons a landlord can invoke to end the lease or evict a tenant. In a related legal development, a federal judge on Wednesday upheld the temporary eviction ban, which had been challenged in court by two plaintiffs, a salon owner and operator, who claimed that COVID-19 orders issued by former Mayor Kevin Faulconer violated their rights. U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz`s decision concluded that the complaint had no legal merits. Marshall Law`s Daniel Marshall told FOX 5 that his client base has skyrocketed since May, handling 12 eviction cases last week. Most of the meeting was used for a framework of new laws that would provide better protection for tenants. Many owners showed a united front against the new proposals, arguing that they had not been consulted on the framework, but had offered to make themselves available for future discussions. The moratorium, which went into effect on May 22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had limited landlords` ability to track evictions, allowing them only in situations where a tenant did not pay rent or violated a lease. It prevented landlords from terminating leases if they wanted to remove the property from the rental market or make major repairs.

Now the law is falling back on previous deportation regulations. SAN DIEGO — After San Diego`s no-fault eviction protection expires, landlords can now terminate their tenants` leases without cause or fault. For this reason, municipal leaders are now trying to intervene before someone is left homeless. Landlords and tenant advocates said there is great potential for reform of San Diego`s eviction system. Until June 30, tenants were protected from eviction due to COVID-19 under California`s eviction moratorium. San Diego`s no-fault measure added additional protections not covered by the state`s measure. State Assembly Bill (AB) 832, signed on 28. June 2021, includes eviction protection for tenants, such as: City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera said in a written statement from the Union-Tribune that the eviction moratorium ends at a difficult time for San Diego tenants: The council didn`t formalize anything, but held the meeting to consider future action.

The new laws and resolutions will have to be reviewed by the city attorney`s office and voted on at a later date, which has not been determined. The Board also discussed the formation of a committee to further examine some of these ideas.