Following a week of closures, cancellations and quarantines, Los Angeles and New York City announced they will be putting a halt on evictions until further notice as a result of the spread of coronavirus.
Last week, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez declared a state of emergency in the county. As a result, the Miami-Dade County police will temporarily suspend eviction notices until further notice.
San Jose, California will also be moving forward with a moratorium on evictions.
Sunday evening, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a moratorium on evictions and bans on dine-in restaurants and entertainment facilities in the city, according to LAist.
“I hereby order that no landlord shall evict a residential tenant in the City of Los Angeles during this local emergency period if the tenant is able to show an inability to pay rent due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Garcetti said in his order. “These circumstances include loss of income due to a COVID-19 related workplace closure, child care expenditures due to school closures, health care expenses related to being ill with COVID-19 or caring for a member of the tenant’s household who is ill with COVID-19, or reasonable expenditures that stem from government-ordered emergency measures.”
“Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to mean that the tenant will not still be obligated to pay lawfully charged rent. Tenants will have up to six months following the expiration of the local emergency period to repay any back due rent. Tenants may use the protections afforded in this subsection as an affirmative defense in an unlawful detainer action. This subsection shall remain in effect during the pendency of the local emergency period,” it continued.
A note from the State of New York Unified Court System said, “Effective Monday, March 16, all eviction proceedings and pending eviction orders shall be suspended statewide until further notice.”
